Out Of Ashes: The Andromeda Shaw Saga Part 2
by Veronica Dane
Summary: Believed to be dead, Andromeda has been captured by Bolivar Trask, who uses her to instate the sentinel program, in the future. To change the future, Andromeda and the X-Men must fight in the past to ensure the safety of all mutants, and stop Mastermold from controlling the world. *Retelling of X-Men: Days of Future Past* *Sequel to "The Devil's Daughter"* [Charles, OC]
1. Chapter 1: Back To The Future

****{I do not own any of these characters except, Andromeda Shaw. All rights and credit go to Marvel}****

The snow and wind tore and pulled at my body as I flew through the mountains. My teeth were chattering, but I kept on flying. I had to make it to them, before it was too late.

The mountains rose up around me out of the mist, and I had to swerve hard to avoid one that just appeared in front of me. "Ow." I groaned as my hip glanced off an outcropping of rock.

 _This armor really isn't helping at all._

I had pulled the metal of a fallen sentinel around me, magnetizing it to my body, giving it the appearance of a sentinel. So far it had been a great camouflage, good enough to help me escape Trask industries. Unfortunately it had taken me a lot longer than I thought to escape, roughly 60 years. A long time I know, but if I reach them in time, it won't be so long, and Trask won't succeed.

I could barely see the temple ahead of me through the snow. It was a remote enough hiding place, but the sentinels knew where they were, and they were coming. Everyone was standing outside in the snow, welcoming the jet that had landed moments before.

I was suddenly nervous, I hadn't seen Charles for the better part of 60 years, he thought I was dead. All those years that I spent at Trask Industries were a mystery to him, he doesn't know, and I don't know how he will react. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

I crashed to the ground in front of everyone, cracking the old stones beneath my feet. Everyone looked up in horror, taken aback at my presence. _Oh, right I look just like a sentinel._

A woman with short white hair, conjured up a thundercloud spewing lighting,and man with long black hair began to glow bright red, powering up the gun in front of him.

"No wait!" I yelled, letting the metal parts of the sentinel fall from my body. I was wearing my Trask industries sanctioned grey outfit, with the emblem stamped under my left shoulder. "See mutant! Not crazy killer robot!" I shouted putting my hands up.

I looked around at the weathered set of mutants, most of them were young, but two older men stood out to me. One was in a wheelchair, and the other was wearing a long black cape.

The old man in a wheelchair, moved himself towards me. He was completely bald, but I still recognized him. Time itself seemed to slow down.

"Andy?" Charles breathed, a nickname that I had not heard in years. He still had the same eyes, a shock of blue standing out in the dark.

"Hello Charlie, It's been a long time." I said smiling. I took a step towards him, slowly not wanting to surprise him too much.

"How are you here? You died a long time ago." He said louder. He reached up and brushed his hand against my cheek. "You haven't changed at all."

"It's a long story, but we don't have much time. The sentinels are coming." I said quickly.I pulled his hand from my cheek, but didn't let it go. I didn't want to let it go. "We need to get inside, now."

Charles nodded and we went inside, still holding hand. Everyone parted as we went inside, finally following behind us. We all arrived in a room deep within the temple, with multicolored glass built into the stone walls, and a large stone table in the middle.

Charles suddenly whirled around in his wheelchair and pulled me down into his arms, squeezing me tightly. "Andy, I thought you were gone. I'm so sorry that I didn't look harder. After you died, I fell into this hole and I couldn't get out of it. I missed you so much." He said into my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, if I had looked harder, you could have been with me."

"I missed you too Charlie." I mumbled into his ear. I pulled away slowly, looking at him. He still had the same smile, so full of love that my throat caught. "It's not your fault Charles. No one knew that I was still alive, except for Trask and his scientists."

"Wait, you were with Trask and his scientists?" Charles asked his eyes wide.

I nodded .

"So what happened?" A man with gray hair asked from behind us. I turned around slowly to look at him, it was Erik. "We thought you died, saving us. That was the whole point, to preserve the future or whatever it is you said. Why didn't it work?"

" The future changed and I didn't see far enough to know what would happen after. My visions stopped right at the beach, they didn't pass that, and I thought that was the end. I did see a war, but it wasn't this one. It didn't end with giant killer robots. After I absorbed the blast I blacked out, and I woke up in a cell. The U.S government had found my body and handed it over to Trask for testing. They thought I was dead, but Trask discovered that I wasn't. When I woke up I was in a cell, and I had lost all of my powers, except the one I was born with. He used me to sway the government into funding the sentinel project, showing them how powerful mutants could be and how they needed to be stopped. He then used me for experiments, testing out every new model of sentinel on me, trying to find one that I couldn't destroy. It took years, but finally Mastermold figured it out. The new generation of sentinel is almost unstoppable, and they have a twist. They are able to absorb powers from mutants and use them against them. He found the special part of my DNA that allowed me to do that, and now they are coming." I said confidently.

"You were at Trask industries for 60 years?" Erik asked.

"Yes. We need to send someone back to save me. If you get me out of Trask industries then this will never happen." I urged.

"Andy, you weren't the only one that contributed to Trask's sentinel. Raven was captured also and was used for experimentation. She killed Trask and inspired the government to fund Trask Industries." Charles said gravely.

"I know. I could hear her screams. Her cell was right next to mine. A few days ago, she broke out of her cell and came to mine. She begged me to kill her, and get out to warn you, so I did." I looked around the room solemnly. " She was my best friend, and she didn't deserve what happened to us. Which is why I have a plan. For a little while I was being held in the same facility that Erik was, just for a week or so. Just before I was transferred to Trask's personal lab."

"The facility under the Pentagon?" Charles asked.

"Yes. You need to send someone back and have them get me out of there. It will change the future, and we won't be here now."

"How do you know it will be better? You said that you could stop the war from happening once before and look where we are now." Erik seethed.

"Erik, I know for a fact that this reality will never happen, if Raven and I are not sent to Trask Industries." I retorted glaring at him.

"To send someone's mind back that far would almost kill them, and no one is strong enough for that." A small brunette squeaked.

"I'm strong enough, but me going back won't help at all." I mumbled.

"I'll do it." A gruff voice said. I looked over at the man whose hair was going in two different directions, and I suddenly knew who he was. He was the mutant I met so long ago,the one I stole the healing power from, Logan.

"Logan, we don't know what that would do to you." Charles replied turning to him.

"No, his powers would be able to protect him. He will survive the journey, but I don't know if I can do it." The brunette said biting her lip. "I mean, I've never sent anyone back that far before."

"Then I'll do it." I said making eye contact with Charles.

"You can't do it. You will just kill her and take her powers." Erik rolled his eyes at me.

I whirled around to look at him. "Well that was before I was in a cell for 60 years. Everyday I practiced and perfected my powers so that I can absorb an ability, without permanently taking it from the host and without killing them." I glared at him.

"Really?" Charles asked surprised.

"Yes. I can retain her powers and send Logan back. He can get me out, so we can all stop Raven from trying to kill Trask."

Everyone in the room was staring at me, trying to understand. I knew how crazy this sounded, I mean time travel? Come on.

"Okay, lets do it." Logan said.

I took a step towards the brunette. I reached out slowly, letting my hand hang between us. She reached forward grasping my hand tightly, closing the distance between us.

"This might hurt a little." I muttered, giving her an encouraging smile. She gulped, nervously.

I took a deep breath, and felt my eyes shift to gold. She gasped seeing my eyes, fear apparent on her face. I looked deep inside of her, finding her powers, drawing them to the surface. I threw open the flood gates, and she began to glow softly in the light. A rope of pure energy wound itself around our entwined arms. I began to slowly pull her power into me, and as I did she gasped in pain. When her pulse of energy hit me I moaned, it felt so good. Mastermold hadn't given me a ton of mutants to absorb, and the ones they did, were not as powerful. They kept those mutants for themselves, trying to find a sentinel that could take their powers.

It took everything for me to stop where I did. The girl stumbled into a tall brown haired guy, that held her close to him. _Even in the midst of all this, there is love. It's kind of comforting when you think about it._ He pressed a kiss to her forehead, trying to comfort her, and it was utterly adorable.

"Storm can you make the snow thicker, so that it buys us a little more time?" Charles asked the white haired woman. She was leaning against a post in the corner.

She nodded, and walked outside, her eyes turning a blazing white as she went.

"The rest of you create a perimeter, so that the sentinels have one hell of a fight when they show up." Logan said gruffly.

Everyone nodded and filed outside.

Erik was the last to leave. He stopped at the door and turned around. "Andromeda, I'm sorry too. I was young and stupid, and I made decisions that I'm not proud of. Will you forgive me?" He asked.

 _Well this is new..._

"Of course I will Erik." I said smiling.

He gave me a small smile and walked out the doors.

 _Why do I get the feeling that, that is the last conversation we were ever going to have?_  
"Wow, that was weird right?" I asked turning to Charles.

He chuckled. "He really has changed, Andy. He hates the choices he made when he was young." He paused. "He reminds me of you."

"Yeah, we are more alike than I care to admit." I snorted.

"Yeah." Charles hummed. He was looking at me the way he used too, and it broke my heart a little bit. I wanted to grow old together, well watch him grow old, spend our lives together.

"If ya'll are done staring longingly at each other, then I'm ready to go." Logan said, ruining the moment.

I laughed at his reaction.

He laid down on the concrete table in the center of the room. I put one hand on either side of his head.

"Oh, wait. Logan, the most important thing is that back then I was dangerous. Whoever opens my cell, make sure they are ready. Back then Trask starved me, he would make me go a long time, without absorbing any energy. When I don't absorb energy I get to a point where my instincts take over and I just attack the nearest person. Logan it has to be you that opens the cell, let me absorb your healing factor. Your healing ability is the only thing that stops the hunger, because then I don't have to kill to survive. Okay?" I looked down into his face.

"Okay. I'll open the door and let you out." He agreed.

"And Logan?"

"What?"

"Thank you."

He just nodded, and gritted his teeth, ready for what was coming.

I closed my eyes, and unleashed my power, pulling Wolverine into the past.


	2. Chapter 2: Drowning My Sorrows

***Charles P.O.V***

The bed is colder without her. I still wake up hoping that day on the beach was a bad dream, and she will be right here in bed with me. It's been 11 years, and I still wake up hopeful that they have all been a nightmare.

I look over at my bedside table. Her picture is there, next to a framed photo of Raven. Yet another fucked up part of my life, because Raven used her sadness to follow Erik blindly, and I used my sadness to dig myself in a hole. I mean, I tried to dig myself out, starting a school for mutants, because that's what Andy would have wanted, but that failed so here I am still in the hole.

I sit up in bed and try to think about a reason to get out of it. I find one reason, my half empty bottle of scotch is on my dresser.

The doorbell rings downstairs, but I don't care. Hank will get it, he always does, and all I want to see is the bottom of that bottle.

My door is cracked just enough for me to hear, the conversation going on downstairs.

"I'm looking for the professor." A gruff voice says.

I hear Hank's drawl all the way up here. "There is no professor here. Now leave.'

I can hear them fumbling around at the door, when finally it slams open.

"Look, I'm not leaving until I see the professor." The voice says roughly.

I edge out of the hallway, to look around the corner of the stairs. A tall muscular, man is standing in the foyer, a pair of sunglasses perched on the end of his nose, a leather jacket hung tight on his shoulders.

"There's no professor here. I told you that!" Hank roars grabbing the man by the shoulder.

"Look kid, you and I are gonna be good friends." The man says and punches Hank right in the face. Hank fell to the ground, groaning in pain. "Professor!" The man shouts loudly, looking around, he gets halfway up the stairs when Hank grabs him and throws him to the ground.

Hank had shifted into his blue form, which means that this guy has really pissed him off.

"Hank, wait. What's going on?" I shout, while stumbling down the stairs, my orange bathrobe swishing around my ankles.

The man's eyes widen in shock. "Professor?" He mutters.

"Don't call me that." I groan and move towards the library, where I know for a fact, there is a full bottle of scotch just waiting for me.

"You can walk?" The man sputters.

I roll my eyes, and sit in the chair behind my old desk. I push the image of Andromeda sitting on the desk in front of me out of my head, and reach for my nearly full bottle of scotch. "You're quite perceptive, aren't you." I say sarcastically taking a long draw from my bottle of scotch. It burns pleasantly as it goes down, and does it's job at numbing my mind. "Which makes it slightly perplexing that you missed the sign on the way in. This is private property, and I'm going to have to ask you to leave." I say to him without opening my eyes.

"I can't do that Charles. I was sent here for you." He replies slowly. I open my eyes and look at him.

"Tell whoever sent you, that I'm busy." I narrow my eyes at him, and take a long pull of my scotch.

"Well, I can't do that, because the person that sent me, is you."

I stop the bottle of scotch halfway to my mouth. "What?"

"About 50 years from now." He says as if realizing how crazy it sounds.

 _Okay, he is definitely crazy._

"Like 50 years in the future?" I ask.

"Yeah." He raises one of his hands to rub the back of his neck.

"I sent you from the future."

"Yeah."

I purse my lips, giving it a minute to sink in.

"Piss off." I finally say, getting up and taking my new bottle with me. As I begin to push past him. He grabs my arm.

"If you had your powers then you'd know that I was telling the truth." He urged.

Shock pulsed through me. _How does he know?_

"How do you know that I don't have- Who are you? Are you CIA?" I shout.

"No."

"You've been watching me then haven't you?" Panic began to rise to the surface.

He sighed, exasperated. "I know you Charles. We've been friends for years. I know you discovered your powers when you were nine.I know you thought you were going crazy when it all started... all the voices in your head. And it wasn't until you were 12, that you realized all the voices were from someone else's head." He paused. "Should I go on?"

"I never told anyone that, except..." I stop myself from muttering her name.

"Well, not yet." He answered excited that he was getting through to me.

I bit my lip and considered my options. If I had my powers I could wipe his mind, but that's not an option.

"All right, you have officially piqued my interest." I said waiting to hear what he would say next.

He swallowed. "We have to rescue Andromeda."

I went cold at the sound of her name, flashes of the beach flared in my mind. I inhaled sharply, before replying. "Andromeda is dead." I mutter.

"No she's not. She is being held by a man named Bolivar Trask, under the Pentagon, where they are holding Erik. We have to get both of them out and then find Raven and stop her from doing something stupid."

I rolled my eyes, and took a large swig of scotch. "Under the Pentagon, wow."

"I know how crazy this sounds, but it's all true." He urged me.

"Andromeda is dead. We all saw her die." I pushed past him completely and walked towards the stairs.

"This is her plan. Andromeda told me herself what we need to do to help her escape. We have to listen to her." He pleaded.

"She didn't tell you anything, because she is dead. Andromeda is dead!" I shouted putting my foot on the first step.

"If we don't go get her the sentinels will kill us all." He said evenly.

I stopped. "What the hell is a Sentinel?"

"Sentinels are the giant metal robots that Bolivar Trask invented to hunt down mutants and imprison them. He uses Raven and Andromeda to create a sentinel that is unstoppable. It uses Raven's ability to camouflage and uses Andromeda's ability to take the powers of the mutant."

I chuckled under my breath. "So the future is full of giant, killer, robots. Wow." I started to take the next step.

"She told me that you wouldn't believe me." He stopped for a moment. "She called you Charlie the first day you met, because she knew it would annoy you. You called her Andy, because you think that Andromeda is a mouthful and you told her so."

"I don't know how you know all this, or who you work for, but I'm going to tell you what you told me when I needed your help: Go fuck yourself." I growled at him.

He was on me in a second, his hand grabbing my wrist tightly. "Listen you little shit, I've come a long way and watched a lot of good people die. friends. If you're going to wallow in self-pity and do nothing, then you're going to watch the same thing. Do you understand?"

I wrenched my wrist from his grip, and walked up the stairs. "We've all got to die sometime." I called over my shoulder. I continued down the hallway, stopping in front of Andy's room. 11 years, and I still can't set foot in there. I slumped to the floor against the wood of the door, and took a sip of my Scotch. _Why did it have to end like this? What did I do to deserve this?_

Hank and the man were still talking downstairs.

"What the hell happened to him?" I heard the man ask.

"He lost everything." I heard Hank sigh. "Andromeda, Raven, his legs. We made this school as a safe place, but after the first semester, the Vietnam war only got worse. Many of the teachers and students got drafted, and he got even worse. He relapsed into what dragged him down before. I wanted to help, so I designed a serum to treat his spine. He started to take too much of it, he complained that he couldn't take the pain, he complained about the voices. He's lost too much."

 _I have lost too much, but Raven doesn't deserve to be like me. I have to help her, and to do that I have to save Erik._

I sighed loudly, and felt tears begin to form behind my eyes.

 _I know that Andromeda is not alive, but Raven doesn't deserve the same fate she had._

I took one last drag from my bottle, before standing up.

 _Nobody deserves to die the way she did._

I stomped back down the stairs.

The man looked very surprised to see me standing there.

"I'll help you get Raven, not for any of your future shit, but for her." I muttered.

"But what about Andromeda?" He sputtered.

"Andromeda is dead. It's been 11 years. If she were alive she would have told me somehow."

He opened his mouth to speak..

"And if you say one more word about her I will throw you out of this house on your ass, and you will have to find someone else to save the future with you." I continued, successfully shutting him up.

"Fine."

"And I don't know what you've heard about Erik, but he is a complete monster, a murderer. Talking to Raven and convincing her to change is one thing. I don't know how you think you can change him. What did you say your name was?" I said sitting down on the stairs. My head was throbbing, which probably meant it was time for more of my medicine.

"Logan, and I know I can change him because you both sent me from the future. So somewhere deep down, the man I know in the future is there." Logan said, completely convinced.

There was a moment of silence.

He took a deep breath. "And I know that you want to just believe that Andromeda is dead, because that's easier to believe. It's easier to say that she's been dead all these years, than to believe a much darker truth. But I know for a fact that she is still alive, and you bet your ass that I'm going to get her out of there."

 _He's so persistent that she's still alive. It's too much to hope._

"You think that I'm giving up on her. For days we stayed on that beach, praying that she would wash up. I refused to leave after my spine was shattered, until we found her. After a week we had to leave, or else I would have died just like she did. When we got back here, I slept in the room with Cerebro, every night trying to find her, but I couldn't. You can keep all the hope you want, but I know that she is gone." I sighed.

Hank was the one who spoke first. "It's going to be hard to get Erik out. He's in a concrete cell a hundred floors down, in the most heavily guarded building in the world."

 _He seems skeptical..._

"Yeah. Why is he in there again?" Logan asked sitting down in a plush armchair to my right.

I laughed out loud. "Oh, he forgot to mention?" I took a swig of Scotch, but was disappointed at all the empty space in the bottle.

"Uh, JFK." Hank mumbled.

Logan's eyes widened. "He killed..."

"What else explains a bullet miraculously curving through the air? Erik's always had a way with guns." I exclaimed. "Are you sure you want to carry on with this?"

"We don't have any resources to get us in..." Hank said louder.

"Or out. It's just you and Hank." Logan added, raising an eyebrow. "But I know a guy, grew up right outside of DC. He could get into anywhere, but I don't know how the hell we're going to find him."

Hank looked over at me. "Cerebro out of the question?"

I pressed my lips into a straight line. "Yeah." I couldn't look at him.

"We have a phone book." Hank sighed, turning to Logan.

"Groovy," He replied, rolling his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3: Old Friend

***Andromeda P.O.V Future***

I took a deep breath, trying to focus on keeping Wolverine's mind in the past.

Charles was still in the room with me, a comfortable silence settling. He was watching me, probably still trying to comprehend that I was still alive.

"So come here often?" He asked, a wide smile on his face, breaking the silence between us.

I laughed. "Wow Charlie, it's been 60 years and you still know how to make me laugh."

"Well that's my job to make you laugh. I suspect you haven't had many opportunities to laugh lately."

"Yeah," I breathed. My hands were still resting on each side of Logan's head, a blue glow was pulsing for the palms of my hands.

"What happened in there Andy? How bad was it?" He asked.

"Well, the first 11 years weren't as bad as the last 49 have been. In the first 11 years, Trask was just trying to get funding for everything and nobody believed him. He was trying get money to build a bigger facility, to transport me to. In the first 11 years I was moved around alot, and finally I was at the Pentagon prison where Erik was. Trask was testing Erik too, just not as much as me. Trask used to starve me, not let me absorb anyone, to the point where my body would begin to shut down. Finally when it felt like I would break in half, he would throw in a person that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or an idiot intern. Never mutants, only humans so that I wouldn't get powers and so that I wouldn't be fully satisfied." I took in a shaky breath.

"That's sick." Charles exclaimed looking over at me.

"Yeah, it wasn't fun. I had never felt that powerless before. With my dad he would let me absorb mutants then test me, but Trask didn't let me near any mutants for years. It drove me crazy. That's why Logan has to be the first person in that cell. If i'm actually satisfied then I will be okay, but if your past self goes in then I don't know if I will be able to control myself. I was like an animal, begging for scraps at the door."

"Andy, it's going to be okay. We are going to get you out of there, none of this is going to happen." He assured me. He rolled over to me, and put one of his hands on my arm.

I looked at him. He gave me a encouraging smile, his eyes crinkling.

I nodded, and bit my lip. _Okay honestly I don''t think that everything is going to be okay._

"So what happened to Phoenix, Andy?" He asked me.

"That is honestly what I'm worried about. When I 'died' I saw Adrian, and he told me that Phoenix had left me and had inhabited the body of a young girl. He was sending me back so that I could get Phoenix back."

"Wait you saw Adrian?" Charles asked incredulous.

"Yes I did." I said slowly

"So you really did die?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I don't really know. I woke up in this field and he was there. He was warning me about Phoenix and what I would have to do. I just know that I have to find the girl Phoenix inhabited. Now it's too late, but back then she was still around."

"She? Do you mean Jean?"

"Yes. You know her as Jean, and I only know that because at Trask industries there was a mutant who had precognition. His mutation was different though, he could only see the past and future relating to powerful mutants. He could see big events happening around mutants. He could see Jean and everything she did and I'm hoping that after this sentinel mess is over I can find her and help her." A tremor ran through me, a side effect of using Kitty's powers. I was beginning to get tired, but I shook it off.

Charles noticed.

"Hey are you okay? Do you need me to get Kitty to take over?" He asked me, worry filling his voice.

"No I'm fine Charlie. Even if I wanted her to take over she couldn't. The connection can't be severed, It has to continue." I said solemnly, looking down at Logan. He looked so peaceful.

 _Wow when did I get so serious._

It was eerily quiet outside, perhaps the calm before the storm.

I looked back up at Charles. Every time I look at him, I still expect to see the Charles I know, but every time I'm disappointed. He is still Charles, but he's different. He has a hardened look in his eyes, and his smile is still nice, but it's different.

"Wow, you are not used to how I look at all." He said raising an eyebrow.

"That's ridiculous!" I exclaimed.

"You mentally wince every time you look at me Andy." He said frowning. He looked away from me, a sad look on his face.

 _Damn, he looks like a kicked puppy._

I sighed and wished I could hug him.

"Charlie look at me." He raised his head, his eyes finding mine. "I love you, and nothing is going to change that. I just-" I sighed, looking for the right words. "I wanted to grow old with you, and I know that I don't physically change, but I wanted to be there for every moment of the rest of your life. I don't care that you aged Charlie, I just care that I wasn't there to see it."

He took in a sharp breath.

"I wish that you were there too." He replied, giving me a smile that warmed me all the way down to my toes. His hand rested on my arm softly, grounding me where I was. "But what we are doing now is going to ensure that. I promise."

"I hope that everything does change, for the sake of the world. I hope it does." I replied solemnly looking back at Logan.

* * *

 ***Logan P.O.V Past***

 _Okay, everything is not going well, in fact this is a million times harder than I thought it would be. I thought he would be happy to hear about Andromeda, but he just wants to leave her in the past. I won't._

We were standing outside Peter's house, which is really weird because he is one of my oldest friends and now he's my youngest friend? Ugh why did I agree to this.

Hank pushed the doorbell, a chime echoed through the house.

 _I can't believe that Charles came. He was so against everything back at the mansion. Maybe deep down he wants to believe that Andromeda is okay._

A woman wearing a pink bathrobe threw open the door, her eyes roamed over us. She sighed dramatically.

"Alright, what has Peter stolen now? I'll just write you a check for whatever he took." She groaned out, turning halfway around.

Charles shot me a look.

"He hasn't stolen anything. We just want to talk to him." I said confidently. She turned around slowly at my words, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Hmm." She frowned at us. "So you are not with the police?" She leaned against the door frame, a bored look on her face.

I laughed. "Lady we are as far from the police as you can get."

She didn't think I was funny. "Whatever. Peter is in the basement." She sighed, and opened the door wider for us to come in.

 _That was easy._

We traipsed through the house and down the stairs to the basement.

"Whoa." I heard Hank mutter behind me.

Peter was playing ping pong, flashing back and forth to both sides to play with himself. He would flash over to a Pac-man game in the corner every few seconds. Bags of money, many sized , radios, and an atm, were scattered around the room.

I let out a whistle, seeing everything around the room. Charles was mesmerized by Peter, who still hadn't turned to look at us.

I cleared my throat to catch Peter's attention.

He looked over at me and dropped himself on the plush couch to the side of the room. "What do you guys want? I didn't do anything. I've been here all day." He exclaimed.

"Just relax Peter, we're not cops." I replied crossing my arms in front of my chest.

He rolled his eyes at me, a bored look on his face. "Of course you're not. If you were you wouldn't be driving a rental car." He adjusted the goggles on the top of his head.

Charles stepped out from behind me, a large pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. "How do you know we have a rental?"

Peter sighed, as if what Charles had asked was the most obvious thing in the world. "I checked your registration when you were walking to the door. I also had some time to kill so I went through your rental agreement. Saw you were from out of town. are you FBI." Peter's form shifted and suddenly he was holding Charles's wallet. He went through the cards, in the blink of an eye. "No, you're not cops. Hey what's with this gifted youngsters place?" He dropped everything to the floor as he stood up quickly.

"That's an old card." Charles muttered.

"He's fascinating!" Hank exclaimed excitedly.

Charles rolled his eyes. "He's a pain in the ass."

Hank turned to me, his eyes shining with excitement. "Is he a teleporter?"

"No, he's just fast." I explained.

 _Okay, need to turn the conversation around._

"So, you're not afraid to show your powers?" Hank asked Peter, curious to what his answer would be.

A strange look crossed over Peter's face. "What powers? Who are you guys anyway? What do you want?" Peter asked quickly. The speed he talked in was difficult to get used to.

"We need your help Peter." I told him slowly.

"For what?" He asked. He stood up and sped over to Pac-man in the corner.

I cleared my throat nervously. "We need you to break into a highly secured facility and break someone out."

Peter snorted. "A prison break? That's illegal. What's in it for me anyway?" He said over his shoulder.

Charles chuckled under his breath. "You, you kleptomaniac, get to break into the Pentagon."

Peter stopped playing the game and turned around slowly to look at us. "How do I know I can trust you?"

I sighed. _Guess I have to show him._ "Because we are like you Peter." I extended my claws from my hands. _It still shocks me that they aren't metal. I guess it means that Erik can't hurt me in that way._

Peter made a face. "That's cool, but also disgusting."

I heard Charles laugh.

"But, I'll do it." Peter said a large smile stretching across his face. "What's the plan?"


	4. Chapter 4: Prison Break

***Logan P.O.V***

 _This is absolutely going to work. We are going to break into the most guarded building in the world and break out two of the most powerful mutants on the planet. What could go wrong?_

 _Hank has a plan, which is good because he's like a super genius, but still if we get caught we don't have a back up plan. I'm pretty sure Peter will just bolt and the professor is not going to use his powers to help us. So yeah we get caught, we're screwed._

I pulled the car through the security gates of the Pentagon. Three of us were in the car and Peter was going to meet us inside. We walked up to the desk and paid for the tour.

 _Which is ridiculous. Honestly why is there a tour for the Pentagon?_

We shuffled into the group as the tour began. The tour guide began spouting off facts and I completely zoned out of it. As we started to move forward I got more and more on edge, the plan was crazy and there were too many things that could go wrong.

Hank elbowed me as soon as we got far enough into the Pentagon. We broke away from the group silently, and tried not to look too conspicuous, which is hard at least for me, because I look well... never mind.

Hank pulled a device out of his pocket that would weaken the security network that ran through the building, just enough so that Peter could slip through. Hopefully no one would notice, hopefully.

 _The down side to this plan is that I couldn't convince them to work Andromeda into the plan. Charles was so against trying to save her, not wanting to acknowledge that she was still alive. Hank agreed with him, which I think is because he doesn't want to make Charles upset. So now I'm going to have to go get her. The good news is I think I know where she is, the bad news is I don't know how I'm going to get away from everyone._

 _"_ Okay, it's done. Peter has 12 seconds to get through, starting now." Hank whispered pressing the button on his device.

"Great, let's hope that he actually paid attention." Charles replied. _Okay, he's still in a sour mood._

I took a deep breath racking my mind trying to figure out how to go get Andromeda. Finally I settled on, "I'm going to go make sure that he actually paid attention and got to the detention floor." I said smoothly, moving in that direction.

"Wait, that wasn't part of the plan." Hank said putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Something doesn't feel right. I'm going to go check it out." I lied shaking off his hand.

Charles stepped forward narrowing his eyes. "If this is about Andy, Logan I swear..." He growled out.

"No, of course not." I snapped. "I'm just going to see if Peter's alright, okay?"

Charles sighed heavily and took a step back from me. I speed walked down the hallway to the elevators, hoping that there was no bio metric lock.

I slid through the doors just as they began to close. Unfortunately there was someone in there, a security officer.

"Shit." I mumbled under my breath. He swept his eyes over me, taking in my leather jacket and jeans. "Hey, how's it going?" I asked casually.

He frowned. "Can I see your identification please?"

I patted my jeans and jacket as if I was actually looking for it. I sighed dramatically. "Ah, left it in my suit. Sorry." I shrugged.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he did, I decked him across the face. He slammed into the metal wall, and whirled back to me his fist raised. I hit him again, harder. He slammed into the wall once more then crumpled to the ground in a heap.

 _Well, that went well._

The elevator doors dinged open, depositing me into a dimly lit hallway. The walls were made of solid concrete, stretching all the way down to a small metal door. Unfortunately in front of the metal door, there was a man sitting in a little chair. He looked up at me, his eyes widening. He reached for his radio, but before he could I grabbed his head and slammed it into the concrete wall. I reached towards his belt, and unhooked the key ring from it. I noted his gun, and grabbed it shoving it into the waistband of the back of my jeans. I fit the key into the hole, and turned the knob slowly.

The cell was made from the same concrete as the hallway, the only light coming from a small bulb in the ceiling. A small form was wedged into the corner of the cell.

"Andromeda?" I called moving closer to the form.

It raised it's head and looked at me. I took a step back in shock. It was Andromeda, but she was old. Wrinkles covered her face, and as she stood shakily to her feet I saw her hair. It was pure white stretching down her back and past her waist. She was hunched over, not able to stand completely straight. She looked so different than how I saw here in the future. Her eyes didn't leave me, watching me like a wild animal, a hunger blazing behind them.

She growled out one word, "mutant." Her eyes shifted to gold as she launched herself at me, moving quicker than I thought was possible.

Her hand grasped my wrist tightly pulling me towards her. Her hand searing through my flesh, branding me. She began to glow a bright gold, consuming her form completely. She was almost too bright to look at. Pain ripped through me. I groaned in pain, but knew that I could take it. I had to take it, to ensure everyone's safety.

It felt like my soul was being ripped from my body, piece by piece. I looked up into her face. A look of pure ecstasy was etched across it, she looked so happy so at peace. As I watched her absorb my energy I saw her wrinkles begin to fade, her hair began to become darker, until it turned black. Just when I thought the pain would rip me in half, she let go of my wrist and stumbled away from me, using the wall to steady herself. Her hand began to glow and she shot a bolt of pure energy at the video camera in the top corner of the cell that I hadn't noticed before, melting it to pieces. She took a unbalanced step towards me, and fell forward. I caught her and swung her up into my arms. Her eyes had turned into a natural dark blue.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked her worried.

"Mhmmm. Just too much energy at once. I haven't had that much in a long time." She mumbled into my shoulder. "It feels good, but it overloaded my system. I'm sorry that it hurt so much, I was just so hungry."

"It's okay." I began to walk us to the door.

"Thanks for getting me out."

"Don't thank me yet." I groaned as we walked down the hallway. I kicked the elevator button. We waited for what seemed like forever, and I prayed that there weren't any security guards in the elevator.

"How did you find me?" She muttered.

"Well. that's a bit of a long story. I will tell you later. Right now I just need to get us to Charles and out of here." I said quickly.

Her eyes flashed open. "Charles is here?" She exclaimed.

"Yes, he is."

Tears formed in her eyes, a smile forming on her face. She still had a small streak of white in her hair and she reminded me of Rogue. Which her powers are kind of like hers, maybe if this all works out she can help her.

"I just hope I can get you to him."

The doors of the elevator opened slowly, and I was pleased to find no one waiting to kill us. I pressed the button for the floor I wanted.

"It's okay, if things go wrong, I got your back." She paused. "You can put me down now, I should be fine, the energy has settled into me."

I nodded and placed her on the floor of the elevator. The body of the guard was still in the corner. She took a shaky step, and I reached out to catch her again, but she waved away my hands.

"I'll be fine. I just need a minute." She said closing her eyes. She took a couple deep breaths, and opened her eyes. She looked over at the body of the guard in the corner, then down at her prison uniform.

"Okay, turn around." She said making a circle with her finger.

I obeyed turning around slowly. I could hear her rustling around with the body. I watched the numbers above the doors rise and I began to worry. Finally she tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around.

"So hat or no hat?" She said smiling.

"Can you be serious for two seconds?" I said rolling my eyes.

"Well you have only known me two seconds." She joked.

 _Okay, she's funny. Didn't expect that. Her future version is just so serious._

"The hat is probably better." I said, unable to contain my smile. I turned back to the doors, waiting for them to open.

"So, your power is what?" She asked me, as she tucked her long hair up into the hat, successfully disguising herself.

"You should know, you just absorbed it." I replied sarcastically.

"Well, I used to be able to tell, but now I guess I just absorb first ask questions later." She said stepping forward so that she was next to me.

I rolled my eyes. "I heal."

"You heal? Well that's something I guess."

"You should be able to survive if someone shoots you now."

"That's it! That's how I know you, I met you before didn't I?" She exclaimed.

"Yes, I think so."

"What's your name anyway?"

"Logan."

"Well don't worry Logan, we are going to get through this. Plus if we get into trouble, Charles can just get control of everyone's mind and we can just walk outta here." She said confidently, her eyes shining with mirth.

"Andromeda, about that..."I began.

At that moment the elevator doors opened, depositing us onto the carpeted foyer.


	5. Chapter 5: FREEDOM

Andromeda P.O.V*

I'M FREE I'M FREE THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!

 _I_ _didn't think I would get out of that cell ever, and I definitely didn't expect it to be Logan, someone that I have now absorbed twice. And even though I have hurt him so much, he's still taking me to see Charlie._

 _I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but back to business..._

 _I'm going to get to see Charles again. It's weird that he wasn't the one that opened up my cell and pulled me out, but I'm just happy to be out._

 _The doors of the elevator began to open slowly, and I was suddenly worried. What if there were officers waiting for us? I'm not really sure if I'm strong enough to take down a lot of people right now._

I looked down at my new uniform, a gun was hanging from the belt. I looked back up at the open doors. _Guess I can just shoot them._

Logan was the first out of the elevator, checking both ways to see if anyone was coming. He motioned me out into the hallway.

"Okay, so we are supposed to be meeting Charles in the kitchen, which is this way." He said walking towards the right.

"Why are we meeting him in the kitchen? Shouldn't we be meeting him at the car?" I whispered to him.

"Well we had to get someone else too." Logan whispered back, not turning around.

I stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Wait, you don't mean..." I asked my eyes wide.

Logan stopped walking.

"Don't tell me that you are getting Erik out of here."

 _They can't have possibly... Why would they bust him out?_

"We have to, so we can find Raven." Logan said, without turning around.

"What do you mean find Raven? She's still with Charles, I haven't been gone that long, maybe a few weeks." I stuttered out, my thoughts drifted to Erik.

 _The last time I saw him he went awol and tried to take out the U.S Navy. We hadn't been exactly cordial to one another, and I don't think that keeping him around is such a good idea. He's not exactly a team player. I wonder where Raven is. She never leaves Charles, at all. Well not for a long time anyway, and she would have told him where she was at least. What could have made her leave for good? And on the day that I "died", highly unlikely that she would leave Charles on that day._

Logan turned around slowly, his eyes focused on me. "Andy, it hasn't been a few weeks." He said slowly.

Confusion washed over me, like a wave.

"Of course it has, they brought in Erik after that day on the beach. I've only been here maybe 2 months." I sputtered.

He swallowed, considering his next words.

"No Andromeda, you've been here 11 years." He replied. Sympathy was flashing in his eyes.

My body went cold all over and my lungs suddenly felt like lead. I couldn't breathe. _11 years. 11 years. 11 years. The sickening chant sang in my head. 11 years without Charles, he must think I'm dead._

I tried to take in a breath of air, but I couldn't. I was hyperventilating and suddenly wished I had a bag.

Logan walked closer to me putting his hand on my shoulder trying to comfort me.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but we really need to go Andromeda." Logan pleaded.

I nodded and followed him towards the kitchen, trying to ignore the sick feeling inside of me. An alarm stared blaring and as soon as we rounded the corner a security guard began to walk towards us. He looked up at Logan, and raised an eyebrow. His hand twitched towards his gun.

 _Oh great_.

I drew my gun and pressed it into Logan's back.

"Thank goodness you're here! There are a ton of intruders trying to steal the country's secrets. I've got this covered, now go! They are back towards the information desk, trying to shoot their way in." I exclaimed, successfully disguising my voice. My face was hidden by my hat and fortunately the security officer didn't question anything.

The security guard broke into a run, and ran past us towards the other side of the Pentagon.

I let out the breath I was holding.

 _There is no way I'm ever going back to that cell._ A shudder ran through me as I imagined the chill of the concrete walls on my skin.

"You think quick." Logan gruffed.

I shrugged, my lips pressed into a tight line. "Let's just keep going." I finally said, withdrawing my gun from his back and holstering it. We continued walking towards the kitchen slowly, our eyes peeled for anyone coming at us.

The alarm grew louder every second and as the kitchen doors came into view, a giant metal wall came down from the ceiling blocking us from everyone inside.

Logan pounded his fist against the wall angrily. "Damn." He shouted. Claws sprouted from his hands, slashing at the wall, but to no avail.

Anger suddenly flooded through me. _Trask had taken everything away from me. He took those years away that I could have been with Charles and Raven. He took away my life._ I felt my eyes begin to glow. _I won't be the weak helpless one anymore._

"Logan, get out of the way please." I growled. He obeyed, and quickly moved out of the way.

The energy in my body began to build crackling around me.

 _No more Mr. Nice guy._

I unleashed a wave of energy that slammed into the door, with a deafening crack. The door blasted off its hinges and fell to the floor with a loud bang, sending up a cloud of dust.

I stumbled towards the door frame, a wave of tiredness washing over me.

I groaned. _When did I get so weak?_

Logan took a step towards, me and offered his arm for me to lean on. Who said chivalry was dead? I smiled at him and gratefully took it, suddenly feeling like an old lady. _Well, actually..._

We stepped into the room together, waving the cloud dust out of the way. Bodies of security guards were littered on the floor like old toys. The sprinkler system was on, spraying a fine mist of water on all of us.

Three men stood in the room, soaked from head to toe. Erik I recognized immediately, because he looked exactly the same as he did that day on the beach, the same devious glint in his eyes. The two other people I did not recognize at first glance. One was a young guy in a leather silver jacket, which looked awesome, and a pair of

goggles, that looked kinda dorky.

 _Note to self: Buy silver leather jacket._

The other guy was staring at me, his mouth agape. He had long brown hair that fell to his shoulders, and a scraggly untamed beard, that hid the bottom of his face. It was the blue eyes that gave him away, though when I left they used to shine, now they are much duller.

"Charlie." I choked out letting go of Logan and stumbling towards him. He made no move towards me at all. I threw myself into his arms. He stumbled back a few steps, still in shock at my presence.

He just stood there, not putting his arms around me. _Why won't he hug me?_

I pulled back and looked up into his face.

He had no emotion in his eyes at all. He pulled my arms off of him and pushed me away. Something inside of me broke, maybe it was my heart.

"Charlie don't you know me?" I asked. I reached up and pulled my hat off, unleashing my dark black hair.

"You're not real." He hissed.

"Of course I'm real Charlie." I gasped out.

 _This is it, my worst nightmare. It was like all the air was sucked out of my lungs._

"No you're not. You died." He backed up a step. "This is just a sick trick. There is another telepath somewhere toying with my mind. You died on that beach, anything else is just too horrible to consider."

I felt like somebody had reached into my chest and ripped out my heart.

"Charlie, I didn't die. I'm right here. Look at me." I pleaded, a tear rolled down my cheek.

"Charles, it's really her." I heard Logan say behind me.

Charles eyes flashed around me to glare at him. "You shut up and stay out of this!" He shouted. Charles eyes focused back on me, a distant look in them.

"Charles it's me Andromeda. I know that this is hard, but I'm not dead, I'm right here." I moved forward, and put my hand on his cheek. His beard was rough against the palm of my hand, but just feeling the warmth of him was comforting.

Tears began rolling down his cheeks. His breath coming in gasps. "Andy?" He stuttered out.

"Yes Charlie it's me." By then I was really crying, huge tears rolling down my cheeks.

 _Which is kinda embarrassing, because I'm an ugly crier._

"Andy." He sobbed grabbing me with both arms and pulling me into a hug. "Andy, Andy, Andy." He murmured into the top of my head not letting go.

I held on tighter, not wanting him to stop holding me. "I missed you, Charlie." I whispered into his chest.

"I missed you too. I thought-." He stopped not wanting to finish.

I pulled back so I could look up into his face. "I know." I raised my hand and wiped away his tears.

He swallowed. "I love you Andromeda."

"I love you too Charles." I replied, happy for the first time in what felt like forever. He brushed a stray hair from my face. I leaned into his touch, realizing how much I had missed him in that moment.

"I know that you both have a lot of catching up to do, but I suggest you do it somewhere else." Logan said from the door.

I wriggled out of Charles's arms, and pulled him thorough the doorway, towards freedom.

When we met up with Hank, I thought that he was going to pass out when he saw me. He went white as a sheet, like he had seen a ghost.

"Hank what happened to you? The last time I saw you, you were much bluer and furry?" I exclaimed thoroughly confused.

 _Then again, Charles should be in a wheelchair, and this whole time he hasn't tried to used his abilities. I thought he would want to talk to me at least._

Before Hank could answer a swarm of security guards stationed themselves in front of the only exit we had.

 _Well that's not good._

They drew their guns and took aim, at that exact moment the guy in the silver jacket threw himself towards them. Mid air I lost sight of him completely. In a swift motion all of the security guards fell to the left, their belts clipping them together.

 _Well that was cool!_

The guy in the silver jacket appeared again, a confident smirk on his face.

"That was awesome!" I exclaimed giving him a high five.

Charles chuckled, but still held on to my other hand. I looked back at him, he looked happy to see me, but he also just looked worn.

 _I had never seen him like this, and it started to worry me. Charles has always been the happiest person I ever met, but now I'm not so sure. His eyes were rimmed with red and his hair was scraggly and greasy. When I left it must have really hurt him. He just looked broken._

I gave his hand a comforting squeeze. The look on his face didn't change, he was smiling, but it seemed like there was something behind that smile, something behind those eyes.

"Okay lets get out of here." Logan shouted.

We ran out the doors into the sunshine.

 _When did everything get so bright?_ My eyes were burning by the time we got to the car. The sun was so bright. I glanced over at Erik and he was having the same problem I was. I piled into the backseat with Charles and Hank, while Logan and Erik got into the front seat.

"So what next?" I asked.

"We find Raven." Logan said as he started the engine.

 _Oh right, I forgot that my best friend is a super villain now. Great._


	6. Chapter 6: Reunion Gone South

**Author's Note: I'm sorry it's been so long, but I have had the worst writers block. I'm trying to see how this all ends. Thank you so much for all the support and thank you for reading!**

*Andromeda Past P.O.V*

The whole car ride, Charles was quiet, his thumb running over the back of my hand absentmindedly.

He didn't ask me anything about the past 11 years, and I hope that it's because he's in shock.

 _Trying to be positive, even though the negativity is following me._

 _I wish that I could read his mind. I would know exactly what he's thinking, and I wouldn't have to hope. I guess I could as to borrow his powers,_ _but I don't want to cause him any more pain at the moment. At the moment I just want to be here with him._

 _Actually I'm kind of surprised that he hasn't tried to talk to me telepathically, but the most surprising thing is that he can walk. I saw his future and after that day on the beach he couldn't walk. Everything seems to just be scrambled._

The world rushed by the window faster than I could see it, and I marveled at how much had changed in 11 years. It was almost like coming out of hibernation.

We made it to the airfield with no problems, which is surprising because Logan drives 100 miles over the speed limit, and considering that we just busted two prisoners out of the freaking pentagon!

I'm still trying to get used to being out of that cell. It's quite a change to see the world around me now, I had forgotten what it felt like to have the sun on my skin.

Everyone began to get out of the car, Charles pulled me out gently still not letting go of my hand. A plane was waiting on the runway for us.

 _I guess now Charles has a private plane, instead of a really awesome supersonic jet. He's probably trying to be more mundane.._.

The guy in the silver jacket, who they tell me is named Peter, was waiting for us there. Every few seconds he would twitch, or shift his weight from one leg to the other.

 _Wow he must really hate standing still._

Hank boarded the plane first, and began his pre-flight checks. He was avoiding talking to me, even though I could sense he wanted to ask me how I survived.

Charles was pulling me onto the plane, but I stopped him gently and turned to Peter.

 _If Trask is in Paris, I'm going to need an arsenal of powers._

"Peter I know that we just met and everything, but is it okay if I borrow your powers?" I asked him calmly.

Peter looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "Borrow?" He looked confused, which honestly I don't blame him.

I let go of Charles hand, immediately feeling the loss.

"Yeah. That's what I can do. I borrow powers from other people." I explained taking another step towards him.

Peter opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately interrupted by Erik.

"Oh so you're out 10 minutes and already going to leave a trail of bodies behind. Great idea Shaw." Erik spat.

Anger surged through me.

I don't even know what happened, but all of a sudden I had Erik pressed into the side of the car, my hand gripping his throat.

He was gasping for breath, trying to push me away with his arm. The car trembled beneath us, no doubt Erik trying to manipulate it.

"The only body that I'm going to leave behind is yours. You are only alive because we need you to find Raven, but you don't need your powers to show us that, do you?" I growled out.

His eyes widened with fear.

"Then again, there is something I've been wanting to try." I whispered in his ear.

I felt a shiver run through him, which only made me smile. His fear was inspiring me, egging me on.

 _It felt good to not be the weak one._

I took a deep breath, clearing my head completely. His energy sang to me, and I was so hungry. I could easily kill him, right here, right now, but probably not the greatest impression on Peter, especially if I needed his powers too. I focused on the energy inside of Erik, and pulled on it, unraveling what was inside. Tugging it out of him. My body began to glow, the energy pulsing around us. He began to scream in pain, making my ears ring. Before all of his power rolled out of him, I stopped pulling. It settled down back inside of him, but I could still feel it swirling around. I let go of Erik's neck, and he collapsed to the ground in a heap, breathing heavily.

I took a step back, power coursing through my veins, making me dizzy with pleasure.

I could feel Charles watching me, but for once I didn't feel bad about what I had done.

 _Erik is never actually going to like me, so why even try to be nice to him?_

"Don't worry, I didn't take your powers away. Not yet." I said rolling my eyes. "But then again, I don't know why we need you to find Raven, Charles can just fire up Cerebro and find her in 2 seconds." I glanced over at Charles hopefully.

His was staring at the floor again, his body language distressed.

I stepped towards him, my hand finding his cheek. "Charlie, what's wrong?" I asked him.

He moved away from my touch.

"I don't have my powers anymore." He mumbled, not raising his head.

"What?"I exclaimed.

 _Why doesn't he have his powers?_

"How? How are your powers gone Charlie?" I sputtered, taking him in.

 _It was like I was looking at a different person. Charles no longer stood with confidence, he seemed to fold in on himself. He didn't make eye contact with anyone, and the eyes that used to pierce my very soul, were dull. How did this happen? Was this because of me?_

"Hank made this serum for me so now I can walk, but it inhibits my telepathy." He said still not able to meet my eyes.

"But why would you continue to take something like that Charles? You-"

"Why? You want to ask me why?" He roared interrupting me. His gaze finally met mine, but instead of the kind eyes I imagined, they blazed with anger.

 _It was like I had set off a bomb. This wasn't the Charles I knew._

"I should be asking you that. Why? Why did you do this? You sacrificed yourself on that beach and you didn't tell me. You didn't tell me what was going to happen. Why didn't you tell me Andromeda? Why didn't you tell me that you were going to die?"

 _Honestly I saw this coming._

"I had to Charles. There was no other option." I said trying to reason with him

"Oh you saw no other option?" He threw up his hands. "What the hell does that even mean? An option was to tell me, we were in a relationship. People in relationships tell each other things, especially that one is going to sacrifice herself for the other!"

I felt like I had been slapped in the face. I took a deep breath, and tried not to be angry.

I failed.

"What I did was protect you and Raven. I wanted to tell you more than anything. I tried to tell you and I tried so hard to find another option, but my father was going to destroy that beach no matter what. He and I were going to be the only survivors, and he wanted it that way. The only option I had was to make that sacrifice. Do you think I wanted to die? Do you have any idea what that was like, knowing that I had to die? Knowing that I couldn't stay with you? That hurt me more that anything. I didn't know this was going to happen, because I'll tell you what chuck the last 11 years haven't been easy!" I shouted.

"Easy? You want to talk about easy? I lost you, Raven and my legs, Andromeda. The past 11 years haven't been easy for me either! And It doesn't matter if you wanted to die or not. It matters that you had this stupid insane idea and you didn't tell me about it! And now I get to hear such uplifting news from a random stranger that you are in fact alive, but you have been in a cell and have been experimented on once again by a psychotic scientist." His face was contorted in anger and hurt.

My field of vision was swimming with tears. _I thought he would be happy to have me back. I imagined this day so many ways, but this was definitely not one of them._

I cleared my throat before answering.

"I understand that you are upset and I don't know what you want me to say Charles. I'm sorry, but the things I did, I did to protect you. Because I love you Charlie. I'm sorry that right now you hate me, but we have better things to do." I said gritting my teeth.

"Oh I'd say we have better things to do. Going to get Raven and hoping that she doesn't kill Trask is more important than anything. Because yet again she's gotten herself into trouble and do you know why? She's grieving! Why would she be grieving, oh wait because her best friend literally killed herself." Charles shouted.

I heard Erik snicker.

"Okay that's it. I've had enough out of you, now I'm really going to kill you." I roared lunging at Erik.

Logan caught me, mid air and pulled me against him.

"Andromeda please calm down. We need everyone here alive to save the future." He muttered in my ear.

I stopped struggling in his arms. "The future?" I questioned staring up at his face.

"Yeah." He grunted.

"Oh not this again!" Charles exclaimed rolling his eyes.

Logan eyed Charles coolly. "If I was wrong about the future than how did I know that Andromeda was still alive."

 _Oh, so he's the reason why they came to get me. Which explains Charles's reaction to me back in the kitchen. It all makes sense now! This is why he's reacting this way, because he thought that I was really gone._

"Please put me down." I asked politely, gaining control of my temper. He placed me onto the tarmac lightly. "So what is this about the future?" I asked curious.

Charles opened his mouth to respond, but Logan interrupted him.

"But I'm not going to talk about it until we get on the plane. Now can we please go?" He said.

"Just tell me one thing Logan. What is my mothers name?" I asked him.

 _Honestly this isn't the first time my future self has sent someone back, but to make sure I also ask the person a question a piece of personal information to make sure that they aren't lying to me. The real future me always makes sure to tell the person she sends back, the name of our mother. Which is not common knowledge at all._

"Her name was Eve Shaw." He responded, without hesitation.

 _Okay he's legit._

He walked onto the plane silently.

Erik sneered at me as he boarded, and finally it was just Charles and me. Charles didn't even look at me, as he got on, but before he made it up the last step he paused.

"You can't just say I'm sorry and have everything go back to the way it was. I love you too Andromeda, but what you did, I don't think that I can forgive you so easily." I heard him say softly. "It was 11 years Andy, a lot has changed. I've changed. And yes I wanted you back more than anything, but what you did..." he trailed off.

"I can see that a lot has changed. Charles I know that you are mad now, so I'm going to give you some space." I responded with a broken heart

"What do you mean?" He asked clearly confused.

There was a moment of absolute silence. I could hear sirens in the distance, piercing the air.

 _Looking for us no doubt._

"I know that you are sad about this, and I know that sorry won't fix any of this. But if you don't want me around, I'll respect that and I'll get to Raven my own way." I said sighing.

He turned around and looked at me, hurt flashing across his face, but I didn't care.

"Andy I want you around I just-"

"Forget it." I interrupted.

Peter was still a few feet away, watching everything we were doing. Fear was washing over his face as I took a step towards him.

"Peter I know that you're scared, but I just need to borrow your powers okay. It's going to hurt a little." I said trying to soothe him.

He swallowed and nodded.

I calmly walked over to him, and took his hand in mine. I took a deep breath and began to take his powers, slowly so that I wouldn't get carried away.

In a few seconds I had his powers. I could feel them zigging through my body.

Charles was still looking at me, tears were filling his eyes.

"Oh and another thing." I began to glow focusing on his telepathy that was buried deep within him.

He let out a grunt of pain as I took it, and I hated myself for not feeling bad. The truth is what I wanted more than anything was Trask dead, and I needed more powers to do that, to get close to him I needed to manipulate what he saw, and Charles's powers was one way to do that. The energy slid through the air flowing into me, strengthening me, weakening him. His hand clutched the railing, supporting himself.

His mind was open to me, and I saw exactly what the past 11 years had been like. I saw every drink, every drug, every emotion he felt when he was without me and in that moment I wanted to run to him, but I knew he didn't want me there. So I took in a shaky breath, trying to calm myself.

"I'll see you in Paris." I said confidently, turning my back on him.

 _What have I done?_


	7. Chapter 7: Paris Chat

_Maybe I deserve this. Maybe what I did was wrong, but I just wanted to keep them alive. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was lying to myself._

 _I tore myself from their lives and Charles never got over it. I guess Raven didn't either because now she's some kind of assassin. Is that what you call her, an assassin? When I left she was just a kid, but imagine the things she's seen. The things I tried to shield her from, but it's better this way. I just hope that my friend is still in there, and of course I hope her reaction is better than Charles reaction._

 _Ugh anything is better than his reaction!_

 _His reaction was horrible, it was good at first, but I think it just took a few minutes for everything to sink in. Why did it have to be like this? I thought he would be happy to see me, maybe was gone too long, or maybe I made the wrong decision._

 _Honestly why did I do this, it wasn't just because he would die. I think deep down it was something else, something more selfish._

Sea spray misted over my face as I ran through the ocean. Wind tore at my hair, making me wish that I had something to pull it back with, then again I should worry more about how much longer I can keep the running up. I was starting to get tired, and what I was wearing was weighing me down. I was still wearing the security guard uniform, which is probably another stupid thing, but when I get there I will find a better outfit. Plus now that I have telepathy again I can influence what people are seeing.

 _Ugh yet another thing I did wrong. Why did I have to take his power? Why did I have to piss him off even more? Then again I really needed his powers, but it probably made it so much worse. Why is my life this twisted?_

 _Then again, his life is even more twisted than when I left. He gave up his powers because of me! I left and the pain became too much and now..._

 _I will get through this, and I will pull him through with me._

I was making good time, and I knew that soon I would be on land and zooming towards Paris. But what would happen when I got there was fuzzy. Still trying to figure everything out. Honestly I'm more worried about Trask getting me again. I'm not going back to that cell, and neither is Raven.

When I finally got to Paris, I easily found where the meeting was going on. And I must say that Trask got a good crowd. As I walked down the street many people stared at me. It could be because I didn't have any shoes. I had to leave them behind before I left because they were much too big to run in.

 _Okay so maybe even I can't rock this look..._

The security guard uniform was ripped and I had lost a lot of the gadgets that had hung on the belt. More importantly the gun, which I wished I had so that I could keep a low profile on my powers.

I passed a shop window, promoting the newest fashion and sighed.

 _I have no money, how am I going to get clothes...Oh wait._

I face palmed and remembered that I could run faster than anyone else and that I could just take what I wanted.

 _But what should I wear? Something I can run in, something that won't blow around when I run. Then again I could just get something absolutely fabulous and figure it out later..._

I looked at the boots in the window. They were black and laced up the front tightly. I used to have a pair just like them, a long time ago. I quickly ran into the store then out into an alley. I laced them up, admiring them. They were firm on my feet, but not so much that I couldn't run if I needed to.

 _So how about a nice dress, nah. I need something I can run in._

I stalked into a different store admiring the styles, of the clothes. The saleswoman was eyeing me the entire time, judging my outfit.

 _Honestly I don't blame her. I look like a hobo, but a very cute hobo._

While I was inside, a woman walked in her hair pulled back into a severe bun. Her fingernails were perfectly clipped and her shoes shining in the light. She was wearing a military uniform, a hat rested under her arm. I quickly ducked behind a mannequin.

A plan began to form in my head, as I watched her roam through the store. She didn't buy anything, but instead stomped out the door. I followed her silently, out the door and down the street. The pavement was hot, burning my feet.

 _Ow, ow, ow. Hot, hot, hot._

She didn't turn around, just continued to stride confidently down the street. I could see an alley approaching ahead of us.

I put the idea in her mind to turn right down the alley. The cobblestone road beneath our feet became dirty and grimy, finally turning to dirt. She finally turned around and looked at me, taking in my ragged appearance. I took control of her mind and made her undress out of her uniform. I quickly snatched it up, and threw her my old security uniform. She put it on, a glazed look in her eyes. I pulled on the uniform carefully, making sure not to rumple it.

" **Now sleep!" I ordered her telepathically.**

She dropped to the ground at once, and I didn't bother to catch her. I dragged her into the corner and stuffed a dirty rag into her mouth that I found, and reached through the trash can nearby hoping to find some old rope or something. I manipulated the metal pipes on the wall to break free and wrap around her. No one would find her if they weren't looking for her.

 _Okay, Erik's power is awesome. Such a great decision to take it._

I blew my hair out of my eyes, then thought better of it, and reached into her hair. I tugged out the hair tie, letting her hair cascade down her shoulders in waves.

I pulled my hair back, relishing how it felt to not have it in my face for once.

 _I can't remember the last time I had my hair up._

 _Note to self: Cut hair later._

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves as I stepped back out onto the street. I looked at the stolen watch on my wrist. I had 15 minutes to get to the meeting. I walked down the street confidently, pushing the image of the woman whose clothes I had stolen into the minds around me.

Nobody glanced twice at me, and finally I was in front of the building.

 _Okay, here goes nothing..._

I walked up to the security officer at the door. He immediately stepped aside letting me pass, his hand moving in a salute.

 _She must be pretty important._ I saluted him back and strode down the hall, trying to figure out exactly where I was going. Many people tipped their hats to me politely, but no one spoke.

I started following a dark haired person in front of me. He was medium height, and wore a hat that shaded his face.

I entered his mind, and realized that this man was Raven.

I froze and looked at him. It was the walk that gave it away, a minuscule detail but just enough that you could see it only if you were looking for it, and especially if you knew Raven.

 _When Raven mimics the outside appearance of someone, she often forgets to change her walk. Which is a weird detail, I know, but Raven has a very distinctive walk. She taps her hand against her thigh when she walks. Which might be a small detail, but every time I know it's her._

I wanted to reach out and hug her. Tell her that I'm right here, tell her that she doesn't have to do this alone.

 _Because she is not going to kill Trask, I am._

I followed her to the board room upstairs, and sat across the table from her. She eyed me suspiciously, and I saw her sizing me up in her mind.

I chuckled low under my breath and wished that I could tell her who I was. The room was completely filled with men and women all wearing military uniforms, all here to listen to Trask. I started to think about how I would tell her, if I should tell her telepathically.

Just at that moment Trask walked into the room, a young man carried a giant black box behind him. He set it on the table.

White hot rage burned through me as I watched Trask. Nothing would make me happier than to snap his neck right here, but I had to keep my cool. I had to make sure he didn't get me again. Above all I didn't want him to get Raven, her powers are just as exquisite as mine.

Trask launched into his speech about mutants and the genetics behind it. I zoned out, until he started talking about the giant metal robots. A PowerPoint appeared on the board in front of us, showcasing the blueprints for a giant robot.

 _Well that's not good._

He reached into the box and pulled out a large rectangular remote. It was so big that he used both hands to hold it. He pulled out the antenna slowly.

 _Okay that's weird._

"This is the processor inside one of my sentinels. It can sense a mutant to up to 5 miles away, and I will activate it to show you." Trask drawled.

 _Shit._

"Now this is purely a demonstration, and I doubt that the alarm will sound. There aren't any mutants in here, of course." He continued, beginning to walk around the room.

 _Well not that he knows of._

The young guy in military fatigues stood stoic by the door.

I looked across the table at Raven. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, I could feel her distress.

Trask flipped the switch on the remote, and it immediately started beeping.

 _Oh boy. Here we go._

"Wait a minute. It seems that we have a mutant here with us. Well, lets see who it is shall we?" Trask said happily moving around the table towards Raven.

Whispers exploded all over the room, heads turning to their neighbors trying to figure out who it was.

Finally he stopped beside Raven, the remote blaring as loud as it could.

 _Big surprise..._

"Well there must be some mistake." Raven said confidently from her seat.

"My machines don't make mistakes ." Trask taunted moving closer to her.

I saw her swallow.

I heard the man by the door cock his gun.

"No don't shoot it." Trask ordered, a sick smile on his face.

Raven threw her chair back into Trask, knocking him to the floor. She let the facade drop, revealing her true form. The man by the door fired a shot at her.

I caught the bullet mid -air and whipped it back at him. He screamed in pain as it sunk deep into his shoulder.

I jumped to my feet, throwing my chair into the general behind me drawing his gun. I let go of everyone's minds and let them see who I really was.

Trask stared at me in horror, his face paled.

Raven was in shock. She stopped what she was doing and looked at me.

But now wasn't the time to stop.

I grabbed the guy behind me and slammed him on the table. Raven snapped out of her daze disarming the man beside her and swiping his gun onto the back of his head. I looked at the remaining people in the room all drawing their guns.

" **Go to sleep!"** I ordered, and the remaining generals slumped into their chairs.

 _Even I had to admit Raven was a badass. When we trained her technique for fighting had been sloppy, but she had really stepped it up. I was kind of proud actually. Now is probably not the time._

She had a gun in her hand pointed at Trask, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at me.

"Andy how are you here?" She shouted.

"You can thank Trask for that. He's kept me in a facility for the past 11 years." I summarized.

Her eyes widened.

"I thought-"

"Yeah I know a lot of people thought I was dead. Trask covered up his tracks well." I responded evenly.

 _Now wasn't the time for the full story._

"Does Charles know?" She asked.

"Yes, but he's not taking it well." I said slowly.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course he's not, he loved you."

"Now really isn't the time to talk about this. Can we just go?" I responded, motioning to the door.

I saw the young guy in the corner shift his other arm, his gun raised. I flicked my wrist sending he gun spiraling through the air into my hand.

Raven turned back to Trask. I could feel her anger surging through her, any second she would pull the trigger.

"Raven wait-" I started to say.

The doors behind us burst open and Charles, Erik, Logan, and Hank ran inside the room.

It was enough to distract me from the soilder in the corner of the room. Enough to stop me from seeing him pull the taser from his belt and fire a shot at Raven.

"Raven!" I screamed.

She started convulsing, dropping to the floor.

Erik flicked his hand and threw the tasers off Raven and onto the soilder.

He slumped against the door, groaning in pain. I saw Logan look at him, realization dawning on his face, and then he dropped to the ground beside him.

Charles ran to Raven's side, but I ran to Logan's.

 _Something wasn't right._

He was rolling back and forth on the ground, his claws unsheathed. I planted both of my hands on the sides of his face and attempted to relax his mind, but I only got drawn in.

Memories flashed through him, and a name rolling over and over, Stryker, Stryker, Stryker. Metal bones rising out of his hands, injections, expirementation. Suddenly I saw why he was here, I saw the future he spoke of.

 _Oh shit._

Metal robots reigned down from the sky in his mind. Mutants were being caged, trampled, exterminated, all around him, but he lived on witnessing it all. This was the future Trask wanted, all of us enslaved, destroyed. I saw myself in his memories, telling him what he had to do, and I understood everything. Why he was here, who he had to save.

And then I saw Charles. Charles in a wheelchair next to Logan, talking to him, crying with him, helping him. Charles and Logan are friends, comrades, and I understood why. Logan is just like me.

He has fought in countless wars, seen death everywhere, and has had to kill to survive. He has lost countless loved ones and friends. He was expiremented on, and betrayed. That's why Charles is close with him, because Logan is me.

I took a deep breath and understood what I had to do. I pulled myself gently out of his mind. I pulled the tasers out of Stryker and let them fall to the floor.

Charles was still with Raven, holding her, but Erik was standing over them, a gun raised.

"Erik, what are you doing?" Charles shouted, suddenly angry.

"What I have to." He responed solemnly.

Raven shot away from Charles and ran towards the window. She jumped through glass going in every direction.

Erik shot the gun, the bullet flying through the air. I tried to misdirect it away from Raven, but it just hit lower than Erik had aimed.

Charles jumped to his feet and moved towards Erik, trying to stop him, but Erik pushed him away and threw himself out the window after Raven.

I helped Charles to his feet.

"Andromeda I-" He began to say.

"Charles now is not the time." I clipped letting go of him and running to the window.

I looked below, and saw Erik using the metal bullet in Raven's leg to drag her towards him slowly.

"Erik please." Raven pleaded, desperately trying to reason with him.

"This is the only way to spare the future." Erik said calmly.

I launched myself out the window twisting mid-air and landing between Erik and Raven. He let go of her leg and focused on me.

"I've given you too many chances Erik." I taunted, manipulating the metal fence behind him to ensnare him.

 _It's not like it will hold him for that long._

"Raven get out of here." I whispered to her. "I will find you later okay?"

She nodded and limped into the crowd, blending in with everyone else.

A large crowd was surrounding us and I could see the flash of the cameras around us.

 _Well I guess mutants are out in the open now..._

"Andromeda why don't you just stay dead?" Erik seethed.

The metal fountain next to me began to tremble.

I sighed.

 _To be fair at the moment I wish I had stayed dead too._

The fountain suddenly whirled up in a chair of metal and threw itself at me. I caught it in the air in front of me, the metal spike brushing up against the front of my hands.

 _Okay that was close._

I could feel Erik's powers pressing against my own, and I knew that I couldn't hold this for long. A wave of weariness washed over me.

I took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate.

 _This is not going to work, there's no way I can take him. Okay new plan._

I sent a psychic blast at Erik, making his concentration lapse. The metal spike fell to the ground, with a large smack.

I allowed my remaining energy to wrap around me, protecting me. I felt my eyes shift to gold as I launched myself at Erik.

He was still clutching his head in pain, reeling from my psychic attack.

I grasped him around the neck, raising him into the air. Fear was shining on his face, thrumming through his veins.

I felt the metal spike pierce my body, a white hot poker of pain flooded through me, but I didn't care.

I laughed and used one hand to pull the spike from my side.

"Erik you have to figure out that that's not going to work." I sang, taunting him.

He swallowed, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Andromeda don't kill him." I heard Logan shout.

I turned and looked at him.

"Why not?" I demanded.

"He needs to be alive in the future, without him there is no future." Logan explained.

I growled, but slowly released Erik. My energy was fading fast, weariness settling over me. I had used my powers so much today and I was still recovering, but I had to find Raven.

Charles was standing with Hank a few feet away. He was staring at me sadly and I knew he was sorry, but right now I had to make sure that Raven was okay. I

" **I'm going to go get Raven, Charles. I promise I'll come back."** I told him and ran quickly in the direction she had gone.

I found her easily, with my telepathy. She was holed up in an old apartment building, in an old area of Paris.

I pushed the door in front of me open slowly, leaning on the wood.

"Raven?" I called out.

She was on me in a flash pulling me into a hug.

"I thought I lost you forever Andy. I'm so happy that you are here" She mumbled into my shoulder.

"Me too." I said hugging her back.

She let go of me and began steering me to the worn out couch in the corner.

I took two steps towards the couch, but dizziness settled over me, my vision began swimming in black. The floor came up swiftly to catch me.


	8. Chapter 8: The Claws Are Out

*Andromeda Future P.O.V*

"Why did you do it Andy?" Charles asked me

I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was still sitting next to me his blue eyes shining through the dim light.

 _I knew exactly what he meant, but didn't respond immediately. That very question haunted me every single day of my life._

"I considered every possibility. I tried every scenario of that day, isolated every decision, but it still ended with everyone dying. I didn't do it because I wanted to die. I did it to save you and Raven and Erik, even though he was such a jerk to me." I took a breath.

There was a moment of silence.

"I didn't want you to die Charlie. I didn't want to see you lying there on that beach lifeless. I have lost so many people in my life, and a life without you or Raven, it chilled me to my core. Adrian was different, I loved him, but the way I feel about you Charles it's different. I can't describe it, or the emotions that I felt that day so long ago, but I just know that if I survived without you, it would have destroyed me. There was no doubt in my mind that if I lost you that I would have spiraled down in a very bad way. Just like how I did with Adrian. When I lost him I ripped through so many people, and my father loved every minute of it. I'm sorry that it turned out this way."

He pressed his lips together in a tight line.

"I was mad for a long time after. Mad that you hadn't told me, mad that you were gone. It was really hard for me, all of those years. I constantly thought of you, it was the only thing that was on my mind. I just remember being gray. Even my vision I just remember it being gray." He sighed. "After you left it felt like all the color in the world was gone, I lost my will to use my powers. I went down a dark path, and I didn't get pulled out of it for a really long time. I just hope that when we find you, that my past self doesn't take it out on you."

"Yeah, but maybe I earned that. The things I did to protect you Charles, I thought you would be thankful at least. I imagined that you would be really happy to see me. Everyday in that cell I though of you Charlie. I came up with these really stupid fantasies of you breaking down the door and coming to get me. I imagined the look on your face, so hopeful so kind." I replied.

It was quiet outside, but I knew what was coming.

"I hope that that's how I greet you, but I don't think I will be as gracious. I think after the shock wears out anger will take it's place, and I'm sorry." He pressed. His hand moved down to where mine rested on Logan's head.

I was trying to hold back tears, but I was failing.

"I didn't want that for you Charlie. I wanted you to move on without me. I wanted you to have a normal life and find someone that you could be with that wouldn't out age you. Someone like Moira." I said quietly.

Charles snorted. "Yes Moira was pretty, but you were my everything. I wouldn't want a normal life, if I could have you, Andy."

I was about to answer him when all of a sudden, Logan started seizing on the table. His claws became unsheathed, slashing at the air. I raised my leg and kicked Charles's chair away from us. Logan's claws sunk deep into the flesh of my leg. I screamed in pain and pulled my leg away, th blood dripping onto the concrete floor.

"Andy!" Charles exclaimed moving towards me, concern flashing in his eyes.

"No Charles stay back." I shouted my eyes squeezed shut in pain.

"What's happening?" Charles said frantically.

"It's probably some kind of trauma happening on the other end. I just have to keep him there and wait for him to ride it out." I replied, clenching my teeth.

"What could cause him to react this way?" Charles asked me.

"It could be anything, a traumatic event, an injury. We just have to wait til it's over."

 _Keep Logan in the past. We don't have another shot at this. You have been in much worse pain than this, just calm down. Breathe, gain control._

I opened my eyes, and took a deep breath, finding my voice.

"Charles can you try to calm his mind?" I asked him, trying to hold Logan in the past.

"I can try." He put both of his hands to his head his eyes closed in concentration.

I took in a deep breath, pain was shooting through my body and I didn't need to look at my leg to know it was bad.

 _Why didn't I take Logan's healing when I got here? I was so stupid._

Logan stopped seizing, his claws going back into his hands. His breathing became normal. Charles opened his eyes and looked at me.

"I think it's okay now." He said lowering his hands.

I nodded, my teeth gritted.

Charles looked over at my leg. "That doesn't look good Andromeda." He moved closer to me so that he was next to me once more.

"Yeah I know." I groaned.

He placed his hand on my arm. "Take what you need to heal." He said evenly.

I looked down at his hand and shook my head.

"I can't Charlie. If I focus on something else Logan could slip back to us. We only have one shot at this and if he comes back too quickly it could fry his mind." I was trying to breathe through the pain.

 _I can do this. I can do this. I can do this._

"But there must be something." He pleaded.

"There is. We wait for Logan to finish the job. I don't think the cut is too deep, I can make it through this." I assured him.

He sighed. "Okay. Let's hope he fixes this soon."

 _Yeah. Let's hope that our luck is actually coming back..._


	9. Chapter 9: Best Friends Forever

Andromeda Past P.O.V*

I woke up on a cot in the corner of a small room, sunlight streaming through the open window on the wall. I could hear birds chirping merrily outside, ready to start the day. I unwrapped the covers from my body, and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

 _Everything from the past few days rushed into my mind._ I groaned remembering everything I had done.

I got up slowly, pleased that my head was no longer spinning. The door stood ajar and I could see Raven sitting on the couch in the other room, absorbed in a file sitting in her lap. She was in her natural blue form, turning the pages slowly.

"Ray?" I said as I walked up to her.

She gave me a small smile. "No one has called me that in a long time."

"Yeah, well I haven't seen you in a while." I responded, dropping on the couch next to her.

"How long was I out?" I asked her.

"3 days." She said not looking up.

"3 days?" I exclaimed. "Ugh, why didn't you wake me up?" I threw my head against the back of the couch.

 _Charles must be worried about me, at least I hope he is._

She rolled her eyes. "You passed out. Which means that you really needed it."

She has a point.

I opened my eyes and looked down at the file she was reading. Pictures of our old teammates and foes littered the pages. Descriptions of their powers spelled out next to them.

"Did you get that from Trask?" I asked softly.

She sighed, and nodded.

I focused more on the writing in the file, which graphically described the dissection of the mutant bodies.

They didn't deserve that. Not even Emma, even though she did try to melt my brain that one time. I'm sure she was a really nice person, deep, deep, down...

Raven finally spoke, interrupting my train of thought.

"For a long time I didn't know what was happening. At first everyone was with Erik and me, then one by one they stopped showing up. That's when Trask came out of the woodwork and started having meetings with important people. At first they thought he was crazy, but he used details from the missile crisis to support his arguements. Erik sent me to infiltrate meetings, and that's when we realized what he was doing, and how much he knew." She said quietly.

"He killed so many. Emma, and Angel were the first. Banshee was with Charles for a while, he was keeping an eye on him for me, but then he stopped calling. I was worried so I went to his house, and I found his family. They weren't even mutants, and Trask had them executed. He had a little sister Josie, she was going to be 4. But I had no idea he had you Andy. He never spoke of that reasearch." Raven continued, anger filling her voice.

"He has lots of secrets and I was one of them." I sighed.

She turned to me, her eyes meeting mine. "Andy, what really happened? How did you survive?"

I took a deep breath and tried to find the words.

"I remember how it felt, energy was all around me flowing into me and it felt so good.Then it started to hurt, my cells couldn't absorb any more and it felt like my body was ripping itself apart. I just remember wanting it to end. Everything suddenly got bright, too bright to keep my eyes open and then suddenly I was just in this field." I answered slowly.

It was so long ago, but it seemed like only yesterday.

"A field?" Raven questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, and Adrian was there." I finished.

"Wait, Adrian? The guy that you were in love with before Charles? The guy that your father killed?"

I nodded.

"Wow, that's a little awkward." She muttered.

"Yeah." I bit my lip.

She folded the file closed, and placed it on the ratty coffee table in front of her.

"Raven why did you leave Charles?" I asked her quietly. "Why would you leave him like that, especially after he thought I was dead?"

She took in a breath. "Erik is right, that's why I left. Charles was old enough to take care of himself. And you have no room to judge me Andromeda."

"I'm not judging you Raven, I'm just saying Charles was hurt and he was in pain and you just left him." I sighed.

"Yes he was in pain, because you killed yourself in front of us!" Raven said raising her voice. "Which is why he's not taking you being alive well. Do you have any idea what happened to him when you left? Shawn used to tell me the horrible things that Charles did to get through. He became an alcoholic, a drug abuser just because of one event in his life. One day changed everything for him, changed him beyond everything. He's mad because you didn't tell him what was happening, you just went out that day and at the end of it he went home without you."

"And without you too." I snarked. "This is not just my fault Raven, and you know it. You know how Charles felt about you too!"

"Oh please, Charles tried to hide everything from me. He tried to shield me from reality. It was time for me to go, to think for myself. Erik was there and he understood me more than anyone ever had. Erik doesn't hide things from me, he respects me and tells me the truth." She huffed.

I laughed loudly. "He respects you? Raven he tried to kill you 3 days ago! How is that respect?"

"He isn't in his right mind at the moment, but

He is right about humanity not accepting us. Trask is the example and the proof. He will lead humanity into a new era of mutant persecution." She shouted rising from the couch rapidly.

I let out a huffy breath and sat forward, leaning towards her.

Not Raven too. Everyone has just changed so much and then there's me, stuck in the past.

"Erik is wrong. There are people that will accept us for what we are. Yes along the way there will be people that do not understand. Humanity will always fear what it doesn't understand. We must show them that we are not so different." I pleaded with her. "If you continue this suicide mission to take out Trask you will end up like everyone in this file." I said, putting one hand on the file between us for emphasis.

She can't go down this path.

"Trask proves the entire argument! He deserves to die, and I'm going to be the reason why he dies. The people in that file where our friends Andromeda and look at them now! I won't be like them, I will save everyone else. Look at the the horrible things he has done to mutants! Don't you want him to burn for what he's done?" Fire blazer behind her eyes, and I felt everything she was feeling.

Pain, guilt, hurt, and something buried beneath it all. Could that be love?

"Trask is an abomination of a man. You cannot call him a human being Raven, he doesn't deserve that title! I want him to feel the pain that I have felt the last 11 years, but it won't help anything." I said. "It will only make it worse."

"It won't help anything? Of course it will! Trask industries will fall and humanity will cower in fear away from us." She commanded.

Chills sped through my body. It wasn't Erik that she sounded like, it was my father.

"Trask industries will not fall, a new man will take his place. We need to ruin his reputation, not give humanity an excuse to fund his company. Raven you need to understand, this path that you are going down it's dark. Erik has brainwashed you Raven, you need to see that." I said standing up.

She laughed manically. "He has made me finally see the light. You and Charles tried to hide me, but no longer will I be in the dark." A wicked smile glinted on her face.

I took a step back from her.

"This isn't you Raven."

"I'm beginning to feel like me for the first time ever. But if you aren't going to help me then you might as well leave." She said motioning to the door.

"I'm not going to leave you like this, Ray." I stood my ground.

"Leave now, while I still allow you to." She threatened, her hands falling onto her hips.

"Raven don't make me stop you." I said flatly.

She laughed again. "The Raven you knew is gone Andy. I'm not the little girl I was before, but I can see now that you haven't changed. You are still the weak, mopey girl you were before."

I gritted my teeth, and held onto the last shred of humanity I had left.

"Oh sorry, struck a nerve did I? Charles will never love you because you are too weak. You won't kill and you won't even fight for your own kind. Charles should have chosen Moira, at least she had a backbone." She taunted.

A white hot poker of anger surged through me, and in that moment the monster within won.

I lunged across the table my fist slamming into her face. She took a stumbling step backward and I jumped forward pinning her to the wall. My eyes were glowing as bright as the sun. I could see the reflection of myself in Raven's wide eyes.

The flat of my arm was pressed against her neck, crushing her windpipe. She gasped for breath.

"You won't kill me, Andy." She choked out, blood coating her teeth. "And do you know why? Because you're too-"

The end of her insult was cut off by me flipping her into the coffee table. It broke beneath her, a jagged piece of wood stuck into her bad leg.

She groaned in pain.

"Awww, poor little Raven. Still not strong enough to beat me. Too bad, I would have actually liked a challenge." I snarled.

I crouched down next to her, my lips brushing her ear.

"Let's be honest Raven, you have always cowered behind your powers. Afraid of what everyone thinks, and now you think you are so grown up because of yet another guy you're screwing. Did he tell you that you were the most beautiful girl in the world? See I will always know that Charles loves me, but you are so sad. You will never know if the guy loves you or if he likes what you can do."

She opened her mouth to speak, but I pressed my hand to her lips.

"Shhh. The adult is talking. Erik doesn't love you he loves what you can do. You ran away with him because he was new and exciting and now you actually love him, which is sad, because Erik doesn't feel love. And before you say how do I know, I know. I've read his mind more times than I'd like to admit. And I know that if you didn't have your powers anymore, he wouldn't look twice at you." I taunted.

Her eyes widened in realization at what I was going to do. She started to squirm away from me, but I controlled her mind enough to keep her in place.

I drew on her strength, pulling her powers out of her, fulfilling a life long wish of being able to morph into whoever I wished.

She screamed in pain and fought against my mental grip, but I clung on, not wanting the rush of energy to stop.

I could feel her soul pushing back against me, her power fading fast, and I let go. Letting her retain what she wanted more than anything, her abilities.

I could feel everything, hear her thoughts, and it hurt me that she felt like nothing without her gift. Erik did this to her, and he's going to pay.

"But, I'm going to give you another chance to make the right decision. I'm going to let you keep your powers, but I'll tell you this Raven, if you ever threaten me again. Ill show you what real pain is." I threatened, brushing a stray hair away from her face.

I removed my hand from her head, and stood up.

I took a few uneasy steps towards the door, the rush of energy fading fast.

"Andromeda," I heard her cough out. She took in a sharp breath.

I turned my head to look at her.

Blood was dripping out of her mouth., coating her bottom lip. I'll never forget this." She seethed

"I know Ray, Ray. Neither will I." I said giving her a smirk.

"The name is Mystique." She spat at my back.

I opened the door slowly, but stopped.

"It's sad that you pushed away the people that loved you for you Ray. Because Charles and I we loved you for who you were not what you could do" I said sadly.

She didnt respond to me, but I didn't expect her to.

I took the final step out the door and kept walking, not lookingback.

Okay so I lost my boyfriend and now my best friend. Is there anyone else that still likes me?


	10. Chapter 10: What Is To Come

*Logan P.O.V*

 _It's been 3 days since Paris. 3 days since Andromeda went AWOL, and 3 days since mutants made the national news._

 _Erik and Andromeda's faces are all over everything, tv, newspapers, magazines, you name it._

 _Which I think is only adding more stress on the entire situation._

 _Charles isn't saying anything at all. I don't know why he took this so hard. I thought he would be happy to see her, I thought that after everything finally seeing her again would help him, pull him through this rough patch. He still looks like a lost puppy..._

 _Why did I sign up for this? When the professor told me to do this, I never imagined it would be this hard. I didn't know he would be this stubborn, especially about Andromeda. At least he's not drinking as much as he was when I got here, because one thing I won't do is clean up vomit. I'll make Hank clean that shit up._

 _Honestly Andromeda and Charles just need to work it out, especially if we are going to save the future. I hope that the events that have happened so far haven't messed up the future even more than it already is._

Hank pressed open the front door of the mansion in front of us, slowly. We had finally gotten home, there was a problem at the airport and all flights were grounded. We couldn't even sneak in to get to the plane, security was so bad. Probably because of the little display that Andromeda and Erik put on.

As Charles stepped through the doorway he stumbled into the doorpost, clutching it for support.

I grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Professor are you all right?" I asked him.

"Yes I'm fine. Don't call me that." He grumbled pulling my arm from his grasp.

 _Okay. So he's still in a bad mood. He will probably be in a bad mood until she comes back. I can see it in his eyes when he looks around. He's looking for her, waiting for her to come back. Even when he hates her, he wants her here. I seriously do not understand their relationship. All they do is fight when she is here, but when she's gone he longs for her._

"It's been too long since his last dose." Hank explained. "Don't worry Charles I'll get it." He walked into a room to the right and emerged with a syringe filled with a golden colored liquid.

"I upped the dosage because you missed one." Hank said quietly handing the syringe to Charles.

"Wait, Charles don't take it." I said looking at him.

Charles looked at me, his piercing blue eyes stabbing me.

I swallowed and considered my next words. They had to be something to inspire Charles.

"Charles, we are going to need you at full strength to stop Erik. You are the only one who can get through to him." I reasoned.

He paused, considering what he was about to do.

I spoke again.

"We need you to find them. I know that you are upset, but you can help us all by finding them. Erik is going to do something big, he hates Trask as much as we do. You saw the extent of what he will do to stop him, he tried to kill Raven. Who I don't think is in the right mind at the moment either."

 _I could see it in his eyes that he was conflicted. He knew that I was right, especially after we released Erik into the world again._

He sighed heavily and pulled the syringe away from his arm. "Okay. I'll try to find them." He breathed.

"Charles are you sure?" Hank asked incredulous. Hank looked geniuinely suprised at Charles's sudden desire to use his powers.

Charles nodded his head. "Hank can you get my chair please." He said in a small voice.

Hank sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He walked back into the study and rolled out a wheelchair.

Charles sighed and slowly moved himself into it, I was holding his arm once more trying to help him.

 _He must really hate this chair._

We moved slowly towards the elevator and began to descend slowly into Cerebro. Worry began to creep into my mind.

 _He hasn't used his powers in a long time, and using Cerebro might not be the best idea. He will be linked to every mind, everyone in the planet. Being linked to every mind might overwhelm him to the point of overload. He could wipe out everyone with a single thought. I guess we don't have many options. We have to find Erik and this is the only way._

"When was the last time you were down here?" I asked walking slowly behind the Professor.

"The last time we were looking for students." Hank answered walking quietly behind us.

"A lifetime ago." Charles breathed, as the machine performed the retinal scan.

"Welcome Professor." The machine buzzed and immediately the doors opened, depositing us onto Cerebro.

"These are muscles I haven't stretched in a long time." Charles mumbled, reaching one hand up to massage his forehead. He looked just as worried as I felt.

He slowly put on the helmet and shut his eyes in concentration, taking a deep breath to focus.

Spots of light appeared around us, glowing brightly in the dark room.

 _So many people in the world now, where I'm from most are dead. It's rare that we would run into another group, usually it was just the X-Men. Groups were scarse and when we did run into another group we often didn't get along._

All of the sudden the lights began to go out, and a horrible shrieking filled the room. I cringed away from Cerebro, the shrieking hurting my hearing. The console in front of us started to spark with electricity. Charles immediately ripped the helmet off of his head and threw it back onto the console.

"It's okay Charles, I'll just go check the generator." Hank said leaving the room.

"It's okay Charles. Just try again." I urged.

"No! I can't do it! I can't use my powers not like this, not anymore!" He shouted, rolling backwards away from Cerebro dramatically.

"You're just a little rusty." I said shrugging.

He shook his head adamantly.

"You don't understand, it's not a question of being rusty. I can flip the switches, I can turn the knobs, but my power comes from here, it comes from..." he stopped and pointed at his chest. "And that's broken. It broke a long time ago." He murmured.

"Charles, Andromeda is back. She still loves you, and even though she made mistakes she is still here for you. I know that you can do this, and so does she." I encouraged.

He slowly turned in his chair to look at me.

"She's never going to forgive me. The things I said I didn't mean them. And now she's not going to come back. I got her back and lost her all over again in one day." He whispered. Fear and hurt shone on his face.

I sighed. "Charles she will come back. She loves you more than anything, and I don't need to be a mind reader to know that."

"But everything went wrong so fast. Everything has just been a huge mistake. I'm sorry Logan, but they sent back the wrong man. I'm nothing, and now I've pushed away everyone in my life." He swallowed. Tears shone on his eyes.

 _This is not going well. The Charles I know is so different than him, could one person change so much? Maybe he doesn't realize that he has people to rely on, people that he can trust._

I took a deep breath and searched for what to say.

 _What will inspire him to find the confidence he needs?_

"You're right. They sent back the wrong man, it was going to be Andromeda. She wanted to come back so bad. Do you know it took her 60 years to fight her way out of that facility, she didn't stop fighting. She didn't give up, she did everything to get to us to warn us, to get back to you Charles. When she showed up and finally saw you she lit up. She looks at you the same way. She wanted to come back and fight with you, but I was the only one strong enough to make the trip. So she sent me, a complete stranger to you now, but look in my mind and see how you helped me. I don't know how to help you the way you helped me, but I know someone who can. And he's right in here" I said motioning to my mind. I leaned forward my arms resting on his wheel chair, pleading him with my eyes to look into my mind.

He raised his hands tentatively to the sides of my head, and gasped as he was pulled into my memories.

 _This should be fun._

* * *

*Charles Past P.O.V*

 _Jumping into his mind was like diving into a ice bucket. It shocked me what Logan had been through. Countless expirements, countless losses, killing the woman he loved. All sad memories, but he still fought he didn't give up._

 _And he reminded me of one person because of it,_

 _Andromeda._

 _Her life is filled with so much pain and anger but she continues to fight on. She inspires me, and the people around her to be better than they are. She has so much faith in me and I was just awful to her. I hate myself because I said those things. I hate that I pushed her away as soon as she got back._

 _I finally got her back and I only hurt her more. On the other hand she killed herself, she chose death over being with me. Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't she trust me? I trusted her with everything..._

Logan's memories flashed by me, and suddenly I was in a concrete room. Colorful glass shone like diamonds in the walls around me. I was lying on a concrete table in the center of the room. I looked up and saw Andromeda above me, her eyes shut in concentration, her hands on both sides of my face.

She was just as beautiful as ever. Her long black hair fell into her face and I desperately wanted to brush it away, to feel her skin beneath my hand.

I absorbed her touch, realizing how it comforted me, realizing how much I missed it.

I sat up and looked around, my gaze finally stopping on a man in a wheelchair. He looked at me and smiled.

 _Wait, he knew I was here._

I stood up from Logan's body and turned to the hand was resting on top of Andromeda's on the side of Logan's head.

" **Hello Charles."** He said telepathically.

 _And I realized who he was. He was me. What happened to my hair? Not important, kinda important._

" **Hello."** I said less confidently.

He smiled wider. A shudder ran through Andromeda's body. His gaze suddenly turned to her and worry filled his face.

She opened her eyes, a flash of navy blue.

"I'm fine Charlie." She groaned giving him a weak smile.

"Don't lie to me Andy." He responded raising an eyebrow.

She let out a laugh that sounded like a wheeze.

"I've had worse." She choked out.

Old me chuckled under his breath.

"Don't remind me." He replied.

That's when I realized that she was hurt. A stripe of fabric was wrapped around her thigh, soaked in blood.

Worry filled my mind, I knew this was in the future, but she was still my Andy, she was still hurt.

"Andromeda." I tried to say.

She didn't acknowledge me, she was focused back on Logan's body.

" **She can't hear you Charles."** Future me said telepathically.

" **Oh."** I looked down at the ground.

" **You gave her a hard time didn't you?"** He asked me calmly.

I opened my mouth to speak, raising my head.

" **I thought you might."** He shook his head sadly. " **Take it easy on her, she still doesn't know the real reason why she did it."**

" **Wait what? What's the real reason?"** I exclaimed.

He took in a shallow breath, and considered his next words.

" **I'm going to let her tell you. This is all just as hard on her. She hasn't realized why she did this, and when she finally does know you need to listen. It will be hard for her to tell you."** He continued. He put his hand on hers once more, trying to comfort her.

" **But we already talked about it."** I sputtered.

He only shook his head at me his eyes sad.

" **No Charles. What she believes to be true is just a shield from what she really knows."** He replied gently.

" **She wouldn't lie about that! Especially after what I..."** I began to say but stopped.

Future me froze.

" **What did you do?"** He said his eyes widening.

" **I was upset, I..."** I sighed and looked at the ground. _I was ashamed at what I had said. She apologized, she wanted to make up for what she did and I only pushed her away._

He didn't say anything, but squeezed Andromeda's hand tightly. He was holding on to her, and I realized why. He didn't believe that she was really here either, he had doubts.

She smiled at him, her face lighting up. She looked at him the same way she looks at me. Her eyes filled with love, even though she is in pain, even though I'm old, she still loves me.

 _What have I done?_

" **Andromeda won't admit to me how hard she had to fight to escape. She won't admit everything she went through, but I saw it in her mind. Trask was sick in many ways, and Andromeda was his favorite to torment. She won't say what went on in there, but you can see how it weighs on her."** He sighed. He reached up to brush a stray hair from her face.

" **I'm going to fix this, Charles."** I urged.

" **I hope so. Because nothing is worse than this future."** He replied shaking his head.

" **Thank you. You have helped me more than I thought was possible."**

" **Don't forget that you aren't alone. Logan and Andromeda have both been through hell, they know how it feels."** He said sadly.

 _I slowly pulled myself from Logan's mind, easing myself back into my own body. Into my wheelchair, my stupid, stupid wheelchair._

"Did you find out what you needed to?" He said gruffly.

I nodded.

 _I had to fix this, I have to make sure that the future Logan saw never happened._

The sliding doors at the end of the platform opened and Hank walked in.

"I think I fixed it, if you want to give it another go Charles." He said enthusiastically.

I turned around and rolled myself to the console. The helmet sat there mocking me, watching me. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves.

 _I can do this just focus. Focus, focus, focus._

 _Why can't I focus easily?_

I put on the helmet slowly, and tried to focus again for what seemed like the millionth time.

 _Just breathe._

Minds rushed past me in a calidiscope of colors but there was only one I searched for.

 _Andromeda._

 _Erik and Raven could wait, I had to find Andromeda now. I had to make sure she was okay._

I found her easily, feeling the pull of her mind. It was familiar, comforting, showing me once more how much I missed her.

A familiar warmth spread through me as I looked through her mind, still filled with so much love for me.

 _Why did I do this? Why did I push her away?_

I sighed and opened my eyes, severing the connection to Cerebro.

I removed the helmet from my head slowly.

Logan placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Did you find her?" He asked gruffly.

I nodded.

"How can she forgive me after this? How can she forgive me after what I said?" I murmured.

Logan thought for a moment.

 _It was weird hearing thoughts again. I had become used to the silence, and now hearing the roar of someone else, it was unnerving._

"If she really loves you, she will forgive you Charles." He answered.

"Yeah. I hope so." I muttered...


	11. Chapter 11: Confessions

*Andromeda Past P.O.V*

It was raining. Well to say it was raining was a bit of an understatement it was pouring, and my clothes were soaked all the way through. I hadn't seen rain in 11 years. It's kind of weird when you think about it, the clouds suddenly open up and water just falls from the sky. It was strange to see it again. Feeling the water on my skin, and sensing the vibrations of the thunder made me feel alive for the first time in years. I took in a deep breath of fresh air, relishing in how it felt to actually breathe.

The trip from Paris had only taken a few hours and now I was lounging on the satellite dish a mile away from the mansion. The satelite that Charles and I had shared our first kiss, the satellite that he had told me how he felt about me, the satellite that started everything.

I guess I'm sentimental, but stupid.

So stupid that it took me 11 years to finally figure out why I killed myself on that beach, and Charles was right I was being selfish. Now I just have to tell him, which isn't going to be easy. Talking to him used to be easy, now not so much. He probably doesn't want to hear me talk right now. Maybe it will be better than when I talked to Raven. Ugh and I thought when Charles broke me free was bad.

I rested my head on my knees in front of me, hugging them to my chest.

A clap of thunder shook the satelite beneath me.

 _Probably not a good idea to be sitting on a giant metal thing in the middle of a lighting storm. But then again the energy from the lightning might quench my hunger. Lately I've just been so hungry, more than usual. Maybe Phoenix did something to me when she was around, maybe her energy quenched my hunger more. Another thing I have to do, find her. She can't be out in the world, not with no one to control her._

Lightning burst out of the cloud in front of me, bringing my thoughts back to my hunger.

 _Try not to think about that. Think about unicorns, and rainbows, and..._

A streak of lighting flashed across the sky.

 _Fine I'll go inside!_

I knew that I was only wasting time.

I stood up with a sigh, and took a step off the satelite. _Of course as I was falling I realized that I couldn't fly anymore, and now I was falling to my death, or well you know what I mean._

 _This is going to hurt, oh wait..._

I concentrated on a piece of metal on the satelite and tore it off with my mind. As I fell I quickly moved it underneath my feet slowling down my fall. Finally I was floating a few feet off the ground.

 _Hover board, cool!_

I manipulated the metal crunching it down to look more like a board, and went full speed towards the house.

I couldn't contain the scream of excitement that flew from my mouth as I surfed above the ground.

 _This is so awesome!_

I skimmed the ground, balancing myself evenly on the board, leaping over fallen branches and logs.

 _This is the most fun I've had in forever. If Raven and I were talking I would definitely let her try this._

 _Thinking about Raven dampened my mood immensely. She probably wouldn't ever talk to me again... Ugh. But one friend at a time, Charles first. He deserves that, he deserves the truth._

Rain pelted my face, obscuring the woods around me, and wind ripped at my hair.

Note to self: Get a haircut Andromeda, you look like a bum.

Finally I surfaced from the forest onto the front drive. I jumped off the hover board, gravel crunched beneath my feet, in a familiar way that comforted me. I kicked up the board into my arms and placed it on the side of the house.

I looked up at the house. There was more ivy than I remembered, and the house itself looked more unkempt than usual, but something inside of me relaxed.

 _I was home, finally. Took me long enough._

I took a deep breath and walked up to the front door slowly, still trying to figure out what I was going to say.

I raised my hand to the door prepared to knock, but before I could lay my hand against the wood the door opened.

Charles was there as handsome as ever, sitting in a wheelchair. His hair was wild falling into his bearded face.

 _Wait why is he in a wheelchair? Did he stop taking the serum?_

Every thought ran out of my head and all I could do was stand there awkwardly, biting my lip.

I finally stuttered "Charles I'm -" but my next words were lost, as he grabbed my arm and pulled me down into his lap. His arms wrapped around me protectively, head fitting into the space between my shoulder and my neck, squeezing me so tight it almost hurt.

I was speechless. I expected him to turn me away, or at least want me to apologize again. My wet hair was dripping water, drops ran down my back, making me shiver in the coolness of the mansion.

He didn't seem to mind that I was soaking wet, and I was suddenly reminded of that night so long ago. _Everything seemed so much simplier back then._

" **Andromeda, never leave me ever again. Ever."** I heard him say to me telepathically.

He raised his head to look at me, and I went soft looking into those beautiful eyes of his.

" **You have no idea how much I missed you."** He told me, a smile shining bright on his face, but hidden beneath his beard.

" **I promise Charles I'll never leave ever again. I'll be around so much that you will be sick of me."** I said to him.

"That is something that will never happen." He murmured.

And then he was kissing me. His lips soft and tentative against mine. I melted against him, realizing how much I missed him.

" **I will never be tired of you Andromeda."** His voice whispered in my head.

He pulled away so that our foreheads were touching.

"Andy I'm so sorry. I was being stubborn and I know that you didn't deserve my anger and I-"

I cut him off abruptly with another passionate kiss, wrapping my hands around his neck, pulling him into me.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I whispered to him against his lips.

There was a moment of silence, and I could see Charles trying to figure out what his next words were.

"Are you ready to talk about it Andy?" He breathed, his words washing over my face.

I nodded, a smile splitting my face.

"Okay then. Hold on!" He said both of us laughing as he wheeled us into the kitchen.

I reluctantly got off of his lap and moved into the kitchen chair. He wheeled himself to the other side of the table.

I reached out with my mind and grabbed the metal container that held the hot chocolate mix. I moved it out of the pantry to the stove. I focused on a pan and moved it to the sink filling it with water, while flipping the stove on. Before long the smell of hot chocolate stired in the air.

A shiver ran through me.

"Are you cold?" Charles asked me.

"A little." I admitted.

Charles backed up and rolled out of the room, returning moments later with a warm fluffy blanket. The same blanket he had thrust around my shoulders that night so long ago.

He wrapped it around me tightly and I couldn't help, but kiss him again.

He laughed into my mouth.

"I guess you can't keep your lips to yourself." he said laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Then don't be so adorable." I joked.

He snorted. "I doubt that I am adorable." He stroked his beard for emphasis.

"Why Professor Xavier you are the most adorable Professor on the planet. Most of them are bald anyway." I laughed remembering my visions from so long ago, seeing him bald.

He suddenly became serious. "Don't joke about the bald thing."

"Why not Professor?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"You know why Andy." He said seriously.

I got up laughing and went to the cabinet getting out two large mugs. I poured cocoa evenly into each mug, and sat back down at the table.

"Honestly I kinda like the beard, it reminds me of a hobo living under the highway." I joked flashing him a brilliant smile.

He shot me a dirty look over the top of his mug as he took a sip.

"I haven't had hot chocolate in a long time." He said.

"Me either." I mumbled, taking a gulp of hot chocolate. It sent a current of warmth shooting through me,

There was a brief moment of silence. I reached over and took his hand, reveling in how his hand felt in mine.

"Andy what happened? Really? Why did you do it?" He asked me softly.

I looked up into his face. He was sitting there his eyes glowing in the light, expectant.

I took a draw from my mug and took a deep breath.

"I thought it was because I didn't want to see you die, but it was more than that."

I bit my lip, considering my next words.

"Charles everyone I love has faded away into nothing. Everyone ages around me all the time, I know that you can't see it, but I can. Right now I can see your hair growing millimeters at a time, I can see it turning a little more gray with every passing second. I thought about watching you grow old year after year, and it hurt me. I know I said I didn't care and that I just wanted to be with you as you grew older, but I do care." I paused.

Charles hadn't moved, he was still fixated on me.

"I've never had to worry about the people I love dying. Even with Adrian it was different."

Charles sighed. "But he did die Andy."

I shook my head. "Adrian wasn't supposed to die. He had a brother who was also a mutant. A mutant who had the ability to reincarnate others. But it had to happen in a certain way and Adrian died before the brother could help him. When Adrian died, I went and killed his brother. If I couldn't be happy no one else could be. I'm a bad person Charlie. I've done so many things and I don't deserve a happy ending. I'm meant to be alone and walk this earth until its last days."

"Andy that's crazy! You are not the same person you were before. You deserve a happy ending as much as anybody else." He exclaimed.

I took a sip of my hot chocolate.

"Charles you are wasting your life with someone who will never age. You could be with someone that can die alongside you, age with you, be able to start a family with. Why would you just be with me? In a fairytale I'm the big bad wolf, not little red riding hood." I responded, unable to meet his eyes. Not wanting to hear his answer.

His hand came under my chin, lifting my face to look him.

"I don't want anyone else, I just want you Andy. I don't care if you age or not. I want to wake up everyday with you and go to bed every night with you. For 11 years I missed that and I never want to feel that way ever again. Apart of me died that day Andy. I threw myself too far down the rabbit hole and I took everything out on you. I love you more than anything in this world and I will continue to love you until my dying breath." He proclaimed loudly. His beautiful blue eyes never leaving mine.

"Really?" I asked my voice cracking, a blush spreading across my face.

"Yes." He assured me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize it until now. I was being an idiot and I didn't mean to hurt you so much Charlie." I mumbled.

"Come here." He ordered.

I crawled into his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Andromeda Shaw, I do not care about what has happened in the past. I don't care about the things you did or what relationships you had. Our relationship is happening now, and I have never loved anyone the way I love you. So stop apologizing." He commanded.

"I'm-" I started to say.

He kissed me on the mouth quickly.

"Where you really about to say I'm sorry ?" He teased me.

I nodded.

He rolled his eyes. "I love you til my end Andromeda Shaw."

"And I love you til my end Charles Xavier." I breathed.

"Plus think about it this way. You can be my trophy wife, and I can be your sugar daddy." He joked, his hands finding my waist.

I laughed. "The sad thing is that I'm the cougar here."

His laugh echoed through the kitchen.

And I couldn't help but pull him into a kiss that sent warmth through my body.


	12. Chapter 12: Late Night Talks

*Andromeda Past P.O.V*

My father's hand tightened around my throat lifting me into the air. I gasped for breath, clawing against his hand, but he was inhumanly strong. My lungs fought for air, begging, pleading, for air that would never come.

"Oh Andromeda, you thought this was all over?" He taunted me. He yanked me forward so that our faces were inches apart, his dark blue eyes coldly staring at me.

"We're just getting started." He whispered, as pain exploded all over my body.

My eyes shot open, sitting up in bed, my lungs gulping in air greedily.

Charles stirred next to me, but he didn't wake up. I turned to look at his sleeping form. He looked years younger, calm and relaxed, just like the man I used to know. In his sleep he mumbled something, and curled himself into my side, his hand finding mine in his sleep. I reached over with my free hand and stroked his hair softly, feeling the soft strands run through my fingertips.

 _Calm down, Andromeda. Everything is fine. Your father isn't here, he isn't going to hurt you._ I felt my heartbeat slow down, my lungs finally calming down to the point of normalcy.

 _I may be fine, but I really need to get something to drink._ I reluctantly removed my hand from Charles's grasp and slipped out of the bed as softly as I could. I quickly pulled on my sweatpants and a t-shirt and took a few steps, my hand closing around the door knob, but then looked back at Charles.

He was still sleeping softly, and I realized once again how much I missed him.

 **"I love you Charlie."**

He mumbled something in his sleep, but didn't wake up. I walked out of the room and down the stairs, but as I walked towards the kitchen, I noticed that the back door of the house was slightly open, moving back and forth in the breeze flowing from outside. I crept forward slowly, ready for anything. The grandfather clock on the wall chimed 2:00 a.m and I jumped slightly. The door continued to sway in the breeze and my hand finally closed around the knob. I threw open the door, and found Logan sitting on the back porch with a bottle of whiskey.

He looked surprised to see me, but then took a big swig of whiskey. He then raised the bottle to me, I took it, feeling the coolness of the bottle in my hand.

"Scoot over." I told him. He scooted out of the way to the left so that I could sit down.

I took a gulp of the whiskey, burning as it slid down my throat.

My mind suddenly flashed back to that day so long ago, when Raven and I had a drinking competition. It was so long ago that it hurt to think about it, it hurt to think of a time that Raven was my friend.

"Couldn't sleep?" Logan asked me, taking the bottle back from me.

"Bad dreams." I mumbled.

He nodded. "Me too."

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked him calmly, meeting his eyes.

He shrugged and took another gulp of whiskey.

The cool night air blew, ruffling my hair.

"What was the dream?" He murmured against the lip of the bottle.

"It was my father," I said vaguely, looking away from Logan and out over the backyard.

Logan pursed his lips together. "Experimentation?"

I nodded, still not meeting his eyes.

"Charles told me about what happened to you. It must have been rough." He continued. I could feel his eyes on me, but I still didn't turn to look into his face.

"It was, but you have had it just as bad James." I spoke clearly. "You have been through just as much experimentation as I have, and you have fought in as many wars as I have." I paused, not wanting to say what came next.

The moon hung full and fat in the sky, bathing the backyard in silvery light.

"And you have lost as many people as I have." I whispered to the night.

Logan was quiet for a few moments. "Yeah, we both had it pretty bad. But now we have to make sure no one else has that happen to them Andromeda." He replied strongly.

I looked over at him, and met his gaze, which pierced through mine.

"The future I live in is bad, beyond anything you have ever experienced. Andromeda we have to make sure this doesn't happen, and I don't know if I can change Erik's mind." He continued.

"Erik is always difficult. I'm more worried about Raven right now. She really is going to go after Trask, no matter what we say or do she is going to go after him and-" My head shot to the door behind us.

 _Something is wrong._

I made eye contact with Logan, he sensed it too. I was on my feet in a second, moving to the door swiftly. It slowly creaked open, and I took a step into the dimly lit hallways. The front door of the house was open completely, drifting back and forth in the breeze.

 _Charles._

I ran up the stairs, ignoring Logan's frantic whispers behind me.

 _If something happens to him, I will never forgive myself._

I opened the door to his bedroom and saw him there sleeping soundly.

I closed the door smoothly, twisting the metal of the doorknob to wrap around the wood of the doorway so no one could get in. I could sense Logan stalking around on the ground floor looking for the intruder, but something felt wrong. I focused my mind to find the intruder, but there was no one here. No one except the four of us, but why did something feel wrong.

I walked down the stairs and onto the ground floor, where Logan stood by the open door. His nose was in the air, like he was smelling something.

 _Well, it makes sense that ever since I absorbed his powers that I can smell a pizza from a mile away. Now I have a super nose, great..._

He opened his eyes to look at me.

"Is Charles all right?" He asked me gruffly.

"Yes he's fine, and Hank is fine too. I checked his mind, he's just working late." I replied quickly.

 _If everything is fine, then why does something feel wrong._

"Well Mystique was here." Logan murmured. "But why?"

I froze. "Raven was here?"

"Yeah. Her scent is all over the door and the stairs. It's hard to place at first, but if you know what you're looking for you can find it pretty quick." He explained. "I've been around her a few times to know what her scent is."

"Why was she here?" I wondered out loud. Then all of a sudden my blood ran cold. "Cerebro." I shouted and ran for the elevator.

Cerebro was in ruins, the headpiece was on the floor, and sparks were coming out of the console.

 _Well this isn't good._

"Shit." I heard Logan swear behind me. "Why would she do this?"

"She knows that the only way for Charles or me to find her is with Cerebro. She wants to be invisible to us. Unfortunately now we can't find Erik either. She must be about to do something big." I thought out loud.

"But what?" Logan questioned.

"I don't know, but I can just find her the old fashioned way." I threatened. I felt my eyes shift to gold, glowing brightly in the room.

 _She wasn't going to be able to escape us this easily._

When I finally got back into bed it was 4:00 in the morning. I had stayed up with Logan trying to figure out what her next move was, and we decided that it was probably the Sentinel launch ceremony.

Charles stirred from his sleep, and looked up at me, his blue eyes piercing through the dim light.

"Andy what's wrong? Where did you go?" He asked me, trying to sit up in bed.

I put my hand on his chest pushing him down into the bed, and slid under the covers curling up next to him, my hand still on his chest.

"I just had a bad dream that's all." I said trying to calm him down.

His hair had flopped into his face, and he looked absolutely adorable. I kissed him quickly, binding my lips to his. I pulled back and put my head against his bare chest.

"Are you okay?" He whispered against the top of my head.

"Yes, but Charles something happened." I bit my lip, but turned to face him. He captured his lips in mine, pulling me up so that he didn't have to lean down to kiss me.

He pulled away, but held my face in his hands. "You are so beautiful." He breathed, a goofy smile on his face, his thumbs stroking my cheeks.

I felt my entire body blush, but then remembered what I had to tell him.

"Charles, Raven was here tonight." I said suddenly.

His smile dropped off of his face. "What?" He let my face go.

"Yes, and she was here because she wanted to destroy Cerebro." I continued slowly.

"She destroyed Cerebro?" He shouted.

I sat up crossing my legs under me, and nodded.

He struggled to sit up, so I casually leaned over and lifted him forward, pressing another pillow against his back so he could sit up straight.

"Why would she do that?" He asked me, betrayal flashing in his eyes.

"She doesn't want us to know what she's planning, but Logan and I were talking and we think both she and Erik are going to crash the Sentinel launch ceremony this afternoon." I sighed.

"Then we have to leave now." Charles exclaimed throwing the blankets off of himself.

"Charles wait, we can't just go. We need to think about this we need a plan." I said trying to calm him down. I moved over so that both of my hands were pressed against his chest, my knees on either side of him on the bed, pressing him down into the pillows.

"Andy, we have to talk to her we have to stop her."

"Charles, she isn't the same person. I tried talking to her and she lost it. She attacked me Charles. I had to do something I didn't want to do." I paused, and bit the inside of my cheek. "Maybe I can just go. I can stop her and Erik. It won't be easy, but I can do it."

He shook his head hard. His hands came up to my shoulders. "Andy whatever we do, we do as a team. I'm not going to let you go in there alone. I'm not going to let you be alone ever again." He exclaimed, pleading with his eyes.

I took a deep breath.

"Okay. Then let's go."I replied moving over off the bed. I manipulated the metal in his chair and pulled it towards the end of the bed.

Charles started to get up, but I picked him up easily and placed him into the wheelchair carefully.

He pursed his lips together and frowned at me.

"What?"

"You just do that so easily." He mumbled.

"Well thanks I try. Plus I have super strength Charlie, comes with the whole power absorption thing. The energy make Andromeda strong!" I shouted smiling widely at Charles. He laughed at my joke, making my entire body warm, I loved the way he laughed.

I helped him get dressed and finally we were ready to go. He followed me out into the hallway, and I walked towards my room to change and grab my black leather jacket.

 **"Hank, Logan, we have to leave now if we are going to stop Erik and Raven. Meet us in the kitchen in 10 minutes ready to go."** I said telepathically.

10 minutes later we were all in the car on the way to the airport.

When we were stopped at security I took control of their minds, and they let us pass no problem.

15 minutes later we were in the air, with Hank safely at the controls, on our way to stop our friends from making a horrible mistake.

 _I just hope this goes smoothly._


	13. Chapter 13: Panic At The Ballpark

*Andromeda Future P.O.V*

"They are coming!" I heard Erik say. The steady stream of blood dripping from my leg had clotted, but it still hurt.

 _It's nothing I'm not used to. I've become used to pain._

Charles locked eyes with Erik who was standing in the doorway.

"Logan better finish this up quick." I said raising an eyebrow at Erik.

"Do you think they can hold them?" Charles asked Erik calmly.

Erik pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Do you think you can hold them?" I asked Erik.

"It's possible, but my powers aren't what they used to be." He replied solemly.

"I should have let Kitty do this. I should be out there fighting. I could stop the sentinels for longer than they can." I confessed, suddenly angry at myself that we didn't push Kitty to do this.

"Could she take over for you?" Erik inquired, his face cold.

"I'm not sure. If the connection is severed then there isn't any other way to stop this. Even if we send Logan back, something could happen in the moments he is gone. I have to keep this going." I exclaimed, trying not to lose focus.

A tremor shook the room.

"It's too late. They are already here." Charles said solemly. He reached for my hand once more, and I took it.

This would be my last stand, it's funny to see this is how we got here.

* * *

*Andromeda Past P.O.V*

We arrived at the ceremony early, which was a first. We were usually always late. I walked confidently in front of the guys through the metal detector. I was wearing a hat and large sunglasses that hid my face well. I guess I could have shifted into someone else, but I happen to really like the way I look. The security guard on the other side of the metal detector held out a hand to stop me.

"Wait, let me see your invitation." He said gruffly looking me up and down.

 _Honestly it was nice to be in my clothes again. Charles had saved all of my clothes and I loved him even more for it. I had really missed my worn leather jacket. I'd had this thing for years, I mean I bled in this thing. I wasn't going to throw it away so easily._

"Of course." I flirted with the officer, and winked. I took control of his mind easily. "These three are with me as well." I floated past him and waited for Charles. He rolled through the metal detector calmly, but had a frown that was marring his beautiful face.

I raised my eyes to Logan who strolled casually through the metal detector, but stopped, suddenly surprised that the alarm hadn't gone off. I could see the realization dawn on his face, that he no longer had metal coating his bones anymore.

Charles was still frowning, looking around with distaste.

I caught his eye.

"Charlie, what's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing." He lied, the frown still on his face.

"Charles, what's wrong?" I asked him again.

"Everyone is looking at me." He mumbled.

"Of course they are Charlie, you are the hottest person here." I said winking.

Hank rolled his eyes.

"Hey I don't want anything from you fuzz ball. You are the one that let Raven in." I exclaimed my eyes flashing to Hank's. I lowered my gaze back to Charles.

"No Andy they are all looking at me, judging me because I am in a wheelchair." He whispered louder.

I sighed. "No they aren't Charles." I said taking his hand in mine.

"Yes they are. They are thinking that I am not able to do anything and how can I live like this. They are thinking that I'm not-" He paused.

"Not what?" I urged him.

He bit his lip.

I sighed and looked up at Hank and Logan. "Can you guys get us a seat please? We will join you in a minute."

Logan nodded and pulled Hank towards the seats.

"Charles tell me what's wrong." I asked him.

"I just don't like crowds." He paused. "And I just don't feel sexy anymore."

That's when I started laughing. "Charles what are you talking about?"

"Andy I don't feel sexy anymore. You help me get places, help me get into my wheel chair. I just don't feel the same way I used to." He said sadly.

I sat down on his lap, and took off my sunglasses.

"Charles, I happen to think that you are very sexy." I breathed, and then I pulled him to me in a searing kiss.

He was hesitant to meet my lips, but then they were rough against mine. I deepened the kiss and for once it was like we were the only two people in the world.

I pulled away out of breath. "Charles Francis Xavier, I will think you are sexy until the day you die. Wheel chair or not." I whispered against his lips. I started to stand up, but Charles pulled me down to him one more time for a hard kiss, that made my head spin. I got up slowly and slipped my sunglasses back on my face.

"Oh and I'm pretty sure everyone is looking at me thank you. You know how beautiful I am." I said as I took his wheelchair in my hands.

"Without a doubt." I heard Charles reply, my entire body blushing at his candor.

I stood up and wheeled him to where Logan and Hank were standing.

"Are you both done?" Hank whispered to me.

"Nah, I think Charles and I can make out a little more if you give us the chance fuzz ball." I snarked back. "Why don't you invite Raven and then it can be fun for you too."

He huffed and sunk back into his seat.

Charles raised a hand to his head, desperately searching for Raven somewhere in the crowd. I focused my mind on finding her, but when the president came on stage I stopped.

"My fellow Americans, today we face the greatest threat in our history, mutants. We have prepared for this threat. Behold! The world will never be the same again." President Nixon said smoothly. He waved his hand and turned around, and the giant sheet dropped revealing eight shiny sentinels. I felt Logan stiffen beside me, and saw his mind shoot to the future, a future filled with more pain than you could ever imagine.

Everyone in military fatigues began to salute the countries new sentinels, while my stomach churned in fear.

I glanced over at Charles who was still desperately trying to find Raven in this crowd.

 _Surely, she wasn't stupid enough to assassinate Trask in front of so many people? Then again, Erik used to do it, so damn..._

My eyes focused on a security officer limping slowly towards the stage, and I knew.

 **"Charles there!"** I said quickly.

Charles's head whipped around to stare at the man limping slowly towards the stage. The man suddenly froze, his hand in his jacket reaching for his gun.

"I've got her!" Charles exclaimed.

I began to make my way through the crowd, weaving past people, always keeping my eyes on Raven.

That's when all hell broke loose.

The sentinels turned on one by one, and I stopped moving towards Raven, suddenly focused on turning around to defend Charles.

"What the hell are you doing?" Trask yelled at Stryker. "I didn't tell you to activate them!"

"I didn't" Stryker yelled back angrily.

 _Oh I might know who did._ I thought to myself as I looked up into the sky.

Erik was floating in the sky, dragging a giant baseball stadium behind him.

Nobody else had seemed to notice it, they were too busy clapping at the sentinels, that were know rising into the air.

I turned back to look at Raven and entered her mind, listening to Charles try to reason with her.

 **"Raven, please listen to me. We have been given a second chance to define who we are. Don't do this!"** He pleaded with her.

I saw Logan and Hank making their way towards Raven, not inhibited by their worry for Charles.

 _This is going to be a disaster._


	14. Chapter 14: That's Not A Plane

*Erik Future P.O.V.*

We watched the sentinels materialize out of the fog, like an angry swarm of bees. I knew we couldn't stop that many, but we needed to buy Andromeda some time.

 _Andromeda, a face I had not seen in so long, yet someone I did not know I missed. I used to hate her, but now I can't remember why._

Storm rose a few feet off the ground to greet our guests, with Bishop standing guard below. She shot a bolt of lightning at him to make sure he was charged up, and ready to go.

 _Loyalty in the face of total defeat. Why did I run for so long from this? Why did I run so long from a family?_

Blink charged forward, ready for the enemy, while Bobby and Kitty stayed back towards the doors, our last line of defense.

The wind began to blow harder, snow swirling in all directions. Storm was giving Master mold a hard time, trying to fly in, but they flew in none the less.

Blink opened a portal infront of Bishop, allowing him to shoot at the incoming sentinels.

I took a few steps forward and stopped.

 _Bobby and Kitty aren't enough as the last line of defense. It has to be me._

I looked to my right through the billowing snow and saw the X-jet.

"Storm!" I yelled over the roaring wind.

She turned back to look at me, her eyes as white as snow.

I focused on the X-jet and pushed it out into the openness of the mountain range.

Storm began to generate electricity, reaching a focal point when she finally released a bolt of lighting into the X-jet. The sound was deafening and the explosion was like a nuclear bomb, shaking the floor beneath our feet. Pieces of sentinel rained down upon us, I stopped the shrapnel mid air and gently lowered it to the ground. I would need to use that later, I don't know how I would use it, but I knew that I needed something.

"Is everybody okay?" Storm's voice rang out across the courtyard.

I felt a sharp pain in my side and looked down.

A small piece of shrapnel was protruding from my side.

 _Wow, I've lived this long to get killed off by a piece of metal. That is just hilarious._

As I pulled out the metal, all eyes were on me, and that was the mistake.

The attack came from under the wall.

A sentinel rose up and shifted its arm into a long metal spear and shoved it through Storm's chest. He pitched her over the wall unceremoniously, carelessly.

"No!" Bishop shouted, and fired his weapon into the sentinel. Two others flanked the one that had killed storm.

They adapted to his stream of energy and shot back a red hot bolt of power straight into Bishop, something so powerful he couldn't take it, and he exploded into nothing.

"They're above us!" Warpath cried out, and I raised my head to look at the sentinels hanging on the wall of the mountain like spiders.

Sunspot shifted into pure fire, and flew at the sentinels with fire roaring out of his fists.

I raised the shrapnel around me and bound it to the door, sealing in Andromeda and Charles.

Two sentinels landed in front of me, their metal arms sharpening into spears. I stepped backward, and as I did Blink created a portal propelling me, bobby, and kitty into to the room where Andromeda and Charles still sat.

 **"Charles, I'm sorry."** I thought, clutching my side as a white hot pain shot through my body.

 **"We've had quite a run old friend."** I heard him say, his voice sounding weary.

 **"Yes. We have."** I responded solemnly. **"Hopefully this isn't goodbye."**

 **"Oh I don't think it will be."** He replied.

I looked up into his face.

He smiled, an odd sort of smile.

The room shook yet again and I thought of the people outside. I thought about Storm and her sacrifice. I thought about all the years I spent avoiding this, avoiding the family that I had.

Logan began to writhe on the table, his claws out slashing at the air. Andromeda tried to hold him, but to no avail. He continued to thrash, and I pulled Charles out of the way of his slicing claws.

"No." Charles said, never taking his eyes off of Logan.

"I'm losing him Charlie!" Andromeda screamed, her dark hair in her face. Her eyes were shut in concentration, but I could feel her slipping away.

I haven't seen her in so long, but she is still just as beautiful as I remember. Why did I hate her for so long? Maybe it was because she reminded me too much of me. Maybe I was just jealous, jealous that she never looked at me the way she looked at Charles. It was too late for that now, and I was too old to argue with myself about the past.

Logan began to gasp for breath, still writhing in pain.

Tears began to run down Andromeda's cheeks as she watched him, so deep within his mind feeling the very pain that coursed through the fabric of time.

Charles reached over and took my arm in a firm grasp.

The wall in front of us exploded and Bobby moved forward to stop the attack, but he was melted down instantly, by a bolt of pure energy.

The three sentinels came into the room, moving as one unit, their helmets peeling back to release a blast of energy.

Andromeda released Logan from the past and stepped in front of Charles to absorb the impact of the blast.

Everything vanished in a bright light, and I welcomed the coming darkness.


	15. Chapter 15:Decisions Decisions

*Andromeda P.O.V. Past*

The sentinels rose above us swiftly, and all the humans clapped oblivious to what was about to happen.

 _That's when the shooting started._

The sentinels rained down gunfire on us, and as everyone scrambled like ants to escape, I ran towards Charles.

"ERIK!" I heard Charles scream from somewhere in the crowd.

 _But I still couldn't see him._

I looked over to my right and saw Logan and Hank attempt to take refuge behind a car, but were knocked back as the car exploded into a pile of white hot metal.

 **"Charles where are you!"** I shouted telepathically, but he did not reply.

A white hot shock of fear ran through my spine.

 _I don't want to lose him, not when I just got him back._

Erik approached ever nearer, with a bit of flair, just like he always did. The sentinels surrounded him, forming ranks around him to protect him from what was coming.

 _They don't have any metal in them. How is he doing that?_

When the baseball park was completely around where we were standing, the crowd got even more frantic, and finally I saw Charles.

A giant light arrangement began to fall quickly towards him.

"Charles!" I heard Logan yell to warn him of his impending fate.

I shot forward and raised my hands to the sky, stopping the light from crushing Charles where he stood. Even with Erik's powers, I wasn't strong enough to completely stop the light, so I telekinetically focused on Charles's wheelchair as well whipping it towards me. The light crashed to earth, a few feet from where Charles had been, and I let out a sigh of relief.

I was beside him in an instant. **"Charles are you okay?"** I asked him frantically looking for injuries.

"Andy, I'm fine, but I lost Raven." He said his eyes wide.

"Shit." I muttered.

 _She could be anywhere._

The ground shook beneath my feet as the stadium closed around us. The light that had almost crushed us hid us from Erik's view, but it was only a matter of time before he knew we were here. The sentinels were flying in a tight formation around him.

 _How was I going to get past them?_

As soon as I thought this, some of the sentinels flew up to guard the perimeter of the baseball field.

 _Okay, 4 on one. I like those odds better than 8 on 1._

Logan and Hank crept up next to us, softly and we all peered over the light at Erik.

"This probably isn't the right time to ask this, but in the future do I make it?" Hank asked Logan.

"Do you really want to know Hank?" I hissed, not taking my eyes off of Erik.

"Yes I do want to know. You can't talk Andromeda, we know you make it because you are practically indestructible, but I just want to know about my life for once okay!" He exclaimed, a little too loudly for my taste.

"Wow when I was gone, you grew a backbone. Proud of you Hank." I said smiling, and raising one hand to pat him on the back.

"If I'm being honest, no you don't make it." Logan whispered.

Hank's face turned into a mask of horror.

"But don't worry we can fix that!" I said rubbing his back. "Right Logan?" I asked shoot a death glare at him.

"Yeah, of course we can." He said maybe a little bit too enthusiastically.

Hank seemed to calm down, but then ripped off his glasses and began to transform. His skin turned bright blue, sprouting fur, and fangs.

Erik looked over and spotted us.

I waved a huge smile on my face, then dropped it into a frown and flipped him off.

Anger blazed behind his eyes as he looked away and into the face of one of the sentinels.

"Do what you were made for." He said coolly.

 _Here we go._

The sentinel, raised it's arm, machine gun equipped and fired.

I created a magnetic field shielding Charles and me from the spray of gunfire, but Hank and Logan jumped out of the way.

The sentinel charged forward towards Logan, who unsheathed his claws and went toe to toe with the sentinel.

 _You got to admire his confidence._

Hank jumped onto the sentinel from behind, trying to open up it's head and unwrap it's wiring.

With the sentinel distracted, Logan charged at Erik. Erik threw microphones at Logan as he ran towards him, but Logan only knocked them away.

Finally he threw a giant block of concrete at him covered in barbs of metal. It knocked Logan down and the metal prongs began to spread through his body, spearing him to the heavy concrete.

"NO!" I screamed.

 _I should be out there, but I can't leave Charles._

Logan was writhing on the floor screaming, his mind flashing between the past and his future. Erik raised him up in front of him, a smirk on his face.

"So much for being a survivor." He taunted, before launching Logan out of the stadium.

 **"Andy go! They need you!"** Charles shouted in my head.

 **"But what about you?"**

 **"I will be fine Andromeda, please just help them."**

I swallowed the lump in my throat, but I still didn't move.

 **"Andromeda please go."** Charles pleaded, with his beautiful blue eyes.

I couldn't say no to him. Not like this.

 **"Okay."** I responded.

Charles grabbed my hand as I turned to go.

 **"I love you Andromeda Shaw."** He said a smile on his face, and he pulled me into a kiss, before pushing me towards the fight.

 **"I love you too Charles Xavier."** I replied, a goofy smile on my face.

I turned to face Erik. He was moving the White House out of the way, focusing on one metal box in the ground. I could feel it too, just below the surface, and I could sense the people in there.

He drew it out of the ground, pulling it through the front of the house, destroying everything in it's path, before making it stop right in front of him.

The front of the box, ripped off of it's hinges, and as it did Erik pulled every gun to him and pointed them at the men inside of the box. Behind him all of the cameras behind him switched on.

"You built these weapons to destroy us? Why? Because you were afraid of our gifts? Because we are different?

He paused.

 _Oh he's so dramatic._

"Humanity has always feared what is different. Well I'm here to tell you, to tell the world, that you are right to fear us! We are the future!" He exclaimed raising his hands. "We are the ones that will inherit this earth. And anyone who stands in our way will suffer the same fate as the men you see in front of you."

 _Okay this is winding down._

"Today was meant to be a display of your power, instead I give you a glimpse of the devastation my race can unleash on yours. Let this be a warning to the world, and let this be a message to my mutant brothers and sisters. No more hiding no more suffering, no more pretending to be weak, you have lived in the shadows in shame for too long. Fight with me, so that we may build a new tomorrow." He finished.

I slowly inched my way out of the shadows and walked towards Erik confidently.

I clapped my hands together. "Well that was quite the show Erik, marvelous job. I especially liked the monologue, how long exactly did it take you to memorize that one?" I teased him as I made my way in between Erik and the box filled with important people.

"Well I knew you would show up Andromeda, so I wanted to make it quite the spectacle when I kill you." He snarled back.

I sighed. "You've made your point Erik, but nobody is going to die today."

He frowned at me from under his dorky looking helmet.

"Erik, don't do this. Don't make me do this, please." I said calmly trying to keep my powers in check.

"It is too late for that Andromeda. Step aside." He commanded me.

"No. I won't let you do this." I said locking my jaw.

"Fine, have it your way." He said eerily calm, all the guns behind him cocked back ready to fire.

"Stand down! I said stand down!" I heard a voice shout behind me.

President Nixon made his way to the front of the throng of people, putting himself next to me. "If you want to make a statement, kill me, but spare everyone else."

"As you wish." Erik smirked, releasing the bullets.

I raised my hand and caught them mid-air, my eyes finding Eriks's. He began to use his powers to press on the bullets, trying to break through my power.

"Erik No!" I groaned, holding the bullets at bay.

"Erik, I'm sick of fighting you! You keep picking fights with me because you know that I am the only one that will challenge you, but I'm sick of this." I suddenly gained control of the bullets and buried them straight down in the ground.

"I know that you want to think that you are so powerful and so big and bad, but Erik the truth is YOU ARE LONELY. I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize that."

Erik took a step back surprised at what I had said.

"You think that you power separates you from humans, but you use it to separate you from your own kind. I used to think you put me on a pedestal because you saw my power, but that's not it." I paused, trying to find the words. "I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize that you loved me."

My words echoed across the empty stadium and pain flashed in Erik's eyes.

 _That's when everything around us exploded._

The sentinel that was attacking Hank spun around to advance on us. I put an arm around president Nixon and took him to the ground, protecting him. Erik was furious, he tore the sentinel into pieces. As he turned away the president Nixon I was watching pulled out a plastic gun and fired a bullet at Erik. It hit him in the neck, bringing him to his knees.

All of the guns fell to the ground, and Erik pressed his hand to his neck, trying to stop the flow of blood.

I rolled away from the Nixon on the ground and stood up. The Nixon stood up calmly and transformed into Raven.

She walked smoothly towards Erik, ignoring me.

"You used to be a better shot." He taunted her.

"Trust me I still am." She shouted and kicked him hard in the face knocking him out cold.

She turned training her gun on me.

"Move out of the way Andromeda." She commanded me forcefully.

"Wow you even sound like him." I replied, not moving the way out of the gun.

"Andromeda move!" She shouted loudly.

"No. Do not make us the enemy Raven." I said calmly.

Charles wheeled his way over to us, putting himself next to me, in front of Raven's shot. He froze everyone behind us.

"We already are Andromeda. Look around you." She snarled.

"Raven, you have already saved all of these men. You have showed them another path." Charles said soothingly. "I've been trying to control you since the day we met, and look at where that has gotten us."

She lowered the gun a few inches.

"Everything that happens now Raven is up to you." I responded calmly.

Charles took my hand. "We have faith in you Raven."

There was a moment of silence before she dropped the gun out of her hand. It fell to the ground slowly, and when it landed, she turned and walked away.

"This doesn't change anything Andromeda." She shouted over her shoulder as she walked out of the stadium.

 _No, but maybe one day things will be different._

I pulled Erik's helmet off of his head telekinetically.

 _Everything seemed to make sense now. Jealously was a powerful emotion._

Charles focused on Erik's mind, letting him get up. Erik rose and stared at us.

"If you let them have me I'm as good as dead." He shouted.

"I know that." Charles said calmly.

Erik met my gaze, something flashing in his eyes, an emotion I couldn't identify.

Charles's hand squeezed mine, trying to comfort me.

 **"Let's go home, Andy."** I heard his voice in my head say. I let him lead me away out of the stadium, with Hank following closely behind us.

 _I hoped things would get better._


	16. Chapter 16: Whiplash

*Logan Future P.O.V*

I woke up to the sounds of old music playing from my holographic alarm clock. I sat up suddenly in bed, my mind flooding with memories that I didn't recognize.

 _Did those things really happen?_

I put my feet off the side of the bed, and groaned as my head began to spin violently.

I pressed my hands to my head and leaned forward so that my forearms were resting on my thighs.

The birds outside were chirpping loudly, too loudly.

 _Maybe I just drank too much last night._

Standing up slowly even made my head spin more violently, but I made my way over to the door, grasping the cold knob in my hand.

As I made my way into the hallway, several students with backpacks passed me, saying "good morning professor Logan". I gruffed out a hello and continued on through the hallway trying to find the professor.

"And so this guy has me pressed against the wall and he's got this giant spike in his hand right?" I heard a familiar voice say.

I turned and looked into the room next to me.

Andromeda sat on her desk in front of a room filled with students. Rogue sat a few feet away from her, her gloved hand held in Bobby's.

"Rogue." I whispered.

"And he tells me bend over. I say 'what for?'and he says I'm Vlad the Impaler it's what I do, I impale people. And I said not me. And so I took the spike from him and I-" Andromeda suddenly turned to look at me.

"Well look who decided to wake up!" She exclaimed, smiling at me.

I shot her a small smile. "Andy did you-" I started to say, but stopped. "Never mind." I finished.

"Give me a second guys." She said turning to the class once more, before stepping off of her desk.

A chorus of groans followed her out of the room.

"Hey are you feeling alright?" She asked me, worry in her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I said slowly.

"Okay, well I am going to cover your 10:00 History class okay, just so that you can stay with Charlie for a little bit." She continued, a skeptical look on her face.

"Andromeda did we just-" I said slowly unable to find his words.

Her eyes widened, with realization.

"Bobby take over my class for a little bit okay?" She said over her shoulder. "No ice sculptures!" She shouted as she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a less crowded area of the hallway.

Finally she turned to look at me.

"How much do you remember?" She whispered.

"What do you mean?" I sputtered confused at her words.

"Charles and I both talked about when you would remember, but we weren't sure." She continued.

As she spoke these words, Jean walked by her hair flipping in my direction. A wave of her perfume washed across my face.

"Jean." I sputtered in shock.

"Hello Logan," She replied smiling at me. Her eyes turned to Andromeda. "Hey are we still meeting up later?" She asked, her voice strong.

"Yes. I think that is for the best Jean." Andromeda agreed.

"Jean how are you-" I began to say, reaching out to touch her hair, when a hand clamped down on my arm.

"What do you think you're doing Logan?" Scott said materilizing from behind Jean.

 _Now I was really confused._

"Hey Scott, can you and Jean go check on my class real quick, just to make sure that Bobby isn't freezing anyone this time please?" Andromeda said quickly.

"Of course." Scott replied looping his arm in Jean's and walking towards the door that led into the classroom.

"They don't know what happened Logan." Andromeda muttered.

"You know what happened." I exclaimed loudly.

"Yes I do. Here, let's go talk to Charles okay. She put her hand in mine and led me to the door at the end of the hallway.

She opened the door slowly, revealing Charles sitting behind his desk. He looked up and smiled at Andromeda, as she glided in, the same smile he gave her all those years so long ago. Filled with love.

She leaned against Charles's desk and turned to look at me.

"Logan, shouldn't you be in your history class right now?" Charles asked me, smiling brightly. He wheeled around his desk and took Andromeda's hand in his.

"I'm actually having some trouble with that particular subject." I replied. "Perhaps you can help me with that."

"What?" Charles scoffed.

"Pretty much everything that happened after 1973." I said a little more forcefully.

A shocked look crossed over Charles's face. "Welcome back Logan."

"It's good to see you Charles. It's good to see everyone." I announced, smiling.

"Well, I'm just glad he had a safe trip back." Andromeda said, her face splitting in a smile.

It was quite extraordinary to see her this way, unaged, unchanged, but I guess this is how people feel when they see me.

"We have alot of catching up to do." Charles added, his hand giving Andromeda's a comforting squeeze. She blushed, but didn't turn away from me.

 _It was nice to see that love conquers time._

A light flashed from Andromeda's hand, blinding me for a moment. That's when I realized she was wearing a diamond ring on her hand.

I chuckled under my breath, suddenly much happier.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Andromeda asked me. A breeze blew through the open windows to her right making her hair wave in the breeze.

I thought back to that day, that seemed only like yesterday, but was so many years ago.

"Drowning."


	17. Chapter 17: Phoenix Rising

*Andromeda Past P.O.V*

A month after the Sentinel incident...

The house looked plain enough, white walls with ivy tangling up the side of the house. It was two stories, surrounded by other suburban houses, with neighbors mowing the lawn and trimming their hedges.

I stepped out of the drivers side of the car, and made my way to the other side to help Charles out off the car.

He had shaven his beard and cut his hair, which I was grateful for.

 _I love him to pieces, but the dirty hobo look scared me. Plus I doubt that scaring potential clients is a good idea._

We walked up to the white picket fence surrounding the house, and I stopped resting my hand on the fence.

 _The pull was so strong, the power that this mutant possessed was astronomical._

I opened the gate slowly and walked up to the front door with Charles right behind me.

I raised my hand to knock on the door, but stopped.

 **"It's going to be okay Andy. Don't worry."** Charles said soothingly, taking my hand in his.

His finger traced over my new engagement ring, and my breath caught. He had only proposed to me a week ago, and for once I didn't see it coming.

He had told me he wanted to go on top of the satellite, I was reluctant to take him up there, but when I did he proposed to me, sitting side by side just like we had done so long ago.

I still blushed every time I thought about it.

Thinking about that moment was just enough to give me confidence to do this.

My hand knocked against the red door hard. A small woman with a shock of red hair answered the door, gray strands dotted the once brightly colored hair of the woman.

"Hello, my name is Charles Xavier and this is my friend Andromeda Shaw." Charles said brightly, reaching out his hand to shake the red haired woman's hand.

"Hello, yes you called, come in please." The woman said quickly ushering us inside. The power emanating from the house hit me like a freight train.

The inside of the house was plain too, mostly filled with photos of a young red headed girl.

"Is Jean here?" I asked the woman calmly.

She nodded. "Yes she is upstairs in her room playing."

As she said this a tremor ran through the house.

The woman sighed, and raised eyes to look at me sadly. "Do you think you can help her?"

"I will try my hardest to help her, but I am not sure what the future will bring." I replied as I slowly started to climb the stairs, following the power trail leading me.

I turned towards a room with the door closed, and knew she was in there. My hand closed on the knob and I opened the door into a child's room.

The walls were pink, but the room itself looked like a tornado had crash landed here. All of the books were knocked off the shelves, all of the dolls were thrown forward and sitting at awkward angles. A small red-headed girl sat in the midst of the chaos with her back to me.

I closed the door softly behind me, and as I did the little girl turned to look at me.

I took in a deep breath.

"Jean, I am Andromeda Shaw, did your mother tell you about me?" I asked her slowly.

"Yes, she said you can help me. She said you can get rid of the demon." The little girl replied eerily, standing up to look at me.

"Yes, that's right." I continued, taking a step towards her. As I took a step forward a tremor went through the girl shaking the entire house. The little girl cried out in pain, shutting her eyes.

"Jean." I shouted moving forward, putting my hands on her arms.

Jean opened her eyes slowly, they were no longer green, but had been replaced with an orange fire. Jean opened her mouth to speak, but it was not the voice of a child.

"Hello old friend, I knew you would find me eventually."

 **Authors Note:**

 **Thank you so much for being so patient, and supporting! It took me a while to figure out how I wanted this particular part of Andromeda's life to turn out. I am going on a brief hiatus, but be on the lookout for the next chapter in the Andromeda Shaw Saga, "Phoenix Rising: The Andromeda Shaw Saga Part 3", a retelling of "X-Men: Apocalypse".**


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